Still See Life
by Hopeful Thought
Summary: A girl and her guardian are dragged in events that lead to them joining a group that plans to save the world from strange beasts that have suddenly appeared. With her newfound powers, she tries to save the world, her guardian and her lost sister.
1. Chapter 1: Imagination

**Still See Life**

**Chapter 1 – Imagination**

Claire often found herself lonely and bored at home. She would look to her drawers daily to put search her neatly placed uniform she put away the day before to wear when it came to getting ready for school. Her parents often left her alone, always too busy to pay attention to her for when they had high classed jobs. Her father and mother both being owners and the head of their companies found themselves unable to care for their little Claire, 12 years of age had a regular guardian who would take care of her. They moved to a remote village in the north, known for it's zany magic festivals and a popular large lake, known to have the powers of divination. But her guardian (who was quite young for one, 22 years to be exact) was almost extraordinary in a sense. He was able to do things many other normal people couldn't do. He could read minds and possessed the power of magic. Claire was always amazed and always felt completely happy whenever she saw him around the house. He was a very quiet man, though lighted up when he saw Claire. She loved it when he smiled and was not an ugly man; he was quite charming for a guardian. The smile he contains would radiant the room and Claire's heart. He was the only one who did care for her for all these years. Sometimes, he would tell his tale of saving the world with friends he'd meet by accident and kept very close to Claire. However, Claire seemed envious of the fact. She didn't have magical powers, why didn't she have any? What made him have magical powers instead of her? He didn't say anything that made sense when Claire came to ask this question. He told her to _look into her dreams… _After that day, when he told her that she remembered the time when she was 6 years old. She remembered him trying to fight off a woman who had a dark aura around her. Her powers were extraordinary drowning much of the surroundings and making many things disappear with shadows that she could control. She remembered the cries of her younger sister Kristen who disappeared in the darkness with the woman. Those were the nightmares that haunted her almost every night. That night, her guardian touched Claire on the shoulders and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. But she's gone. Gone with the Witch of the Shadows… And I couldn't save her."

Her sister's cries rang through her head nearly everyday. And most of the things she saw would remind her of the incident. "If only I had magic to bring her back! And now she's gone." She blamed herself. Each day from school, she'd run to the nearby lake near the village and watch the ripples. She never saw her reflection from the water though, instead she saw the woman who took her sister Kristen away. The Witch of the Shadow's reflection, however when she saw her she didn't seem evil, she seemed lonely. Her sad stares petrified Claire every time she saw her. It seemed that everywhere she would go, the Witch of the Shadows was slowly behind her. She was paranoid, what if it was she to drown in the darkness too? What happened to her sister Kristen? Claire closed her eyes and swayed her head from side to side. _It must be my imagination… _Though she never lost hope that her little sister was still alive.

Claire one day went to the lake once again only to see a spirit of hovering over the lake. She rushed towards it to find out what it was. The spectre was a pretty light blue, with long hair and dressed in a long dress. She was short in height and had her back towards Claire. She looked down in the river crying. When Claire reached the pier of the lake, she spectre turned around to only reveal her to be Kristen. As soon as Kristen saw her older sister Claire, she began her outbursts of help. "Help me Claire, please! The darkness is such a lonely place." "Where are you?" Claire replied. "What is she doing to you?" But it seems as if Kristen could hear her. Her outbursts grew more and more. "Please help me, I'm scared and lonely…" Kristen then stopped, looking below herself. Claire became curious and looked beneath where her sister's spirit was hovering over. A hand covered in black slimy liquid emerged out of the lake reaching towards Kristen's spectre. Eventually it dragged the spectre down to the river, Kristen crying out for her sister's help. Claire reached her arm and found out she could hold on to the spectre. The dark handed figure emerged fully out of the water, almost dragging Claire off the pier until her guardian came and stopped the fight for the spectre. His incantation led the monster back to the river with the spectre. Claire could hear her sister's cries in her head. The monster soon disappeared after that. Claire was shocked and was paralysed with fear. Her guardian was angry. "Why did you involve yourself with danger. That monster could have killed you!"

She then was in tears… _she had let her sister go again… But what was that dark-handed monster. _She was tired of losing her sister all the time. Her guardian gave her hugged her. "It's alright…" and lifted her into his arms till and they returned to the village.


	2. Chapter 2: Confrontation

**Confrontation**

Claire's guardian after entering the village put Claire down and held her

Claire's guardian after entering the village put Claire down and held her. The atmosphere felt as if it changed after her guardian put Claire down. "There are a lot of dangerous things around these days because of magic. I want you to never, ever confront a magical being or entity. Magic is dangerous and shouldn't be tampered by those who aren't able to handle it."

"But, what on Earth was that thing? The dark hands, the black slimy liquid, the one that dragged my little sister down the water?" Claire asked. Her guardian taking much more notice with the innocent gaze that she had on him. He couldn't make her happy with just his charms and smiles anymore. He knew what she was thinking about. About the frequent nightmares, he knew about those.

"I'm not going to lie to you anymore Claire. You've grown and whatever time has in store for you is out of my control. The dark creature is a creation of the Witch of the Shadows, the woman that was shrouded in the shadow miasma the night where your little sister Kristen was kidnapped. She's an evil witch who hunts children down to perform her rituals. She's an evil woman and I want you to stay away from her, even if that means ignoring all the signs of your sister. That Witch is dangerous, she controls the shadows and the darkness is a powerful force. Even I couldn't defeat her the first time…"

Claire looked the floor in disappointment. "Does it mean Kristen's dead? The Witch of the Shadows killed her that night?"  
Her guardian looked away for a few moments. "I don't want to get you down Claire, but don't get your hopes up…"  
Claire shook her head and couldn't believe what she was hearing. She restrained herself from more tears. She couldn't take the news.

"But don't worry… if she is alive, I'm pretty sure somebody that's capable of defeating the Witch of the Shadows, they'll save your sister. They'll save Kristen." He then grinned, hoping for Claire to get herself out from her negative thinking. "There is hope after-all"

She wasn't convinced however and saw his attempt to make her feel better. It was comforting, she really did want to smile back, but there was so much that she wanted to do. She didn't want to wait for someone to save her; Kristen needed to be saved now.

"You don't understand do you, all these nightmares, all the things that remind me of the day. I get this everyday and it's tearing me apart. Her cries, her yelling… She's calling to me. I don't think that it's just coincidence that I met her spectre today. And I'm scared that if I just stand here and do nothing, something is going to happen to her." Her guardian, shrugging his shoulders in disbelief, there wasn't anything in this world that was going to convince her otherwise. "Claire, magic isn't something that you can play with. Not everyone can play hero. If everyone could, there wouldn't be any problems we can't fix. Magic is beneficial, but its benefits also come with lots of consequences. More than it's benefits. And you can't be naïve with magic too, it's dangerous."

"Then what am I supposed to do? Just move around here and wait until something good happens?"  
"That's all you can do, it would be stupid for us to confront the Witch of the Shadows without the necessary power you need to defeat her."

Claire fell to the floor and looked around in misery. "There really isn't anything I can do," she thought. Her guardian looked high up in the sky, thinking about the sudden dilemmas. "Has she really returned? But why?" He then looked to Claire, tracing her misery and confusion with his ability to mind read. He then tried to keep positive, thinking of an idea that could possibly cheer Claire up. Even just to take her mind off the subject a little while could have been good. "Claire, why don't we look around the Magic Festival that's near our village? I'm pretty sure we can find something there!" he said in pursuit to cheer her up. "Okay…" Claire said in reluctance. "I'll give you a piggy back," the guardian said with a smile. Claire shrugged her shoulders with a small smile. "Why not?" she said cheekily


	3. Chapter 3: Fortuneteller

**Fortune-teller**

Claire's guardian after entering the village put Claire down and held her

The village magic festival was one of the highlights throughout the year. Fortunetellers and novice illusionists show their displays for reasonable prices. It was also known to be a tourist attraction for many of those all over the world wishing to uncover the true witches and warlocks that really practiced the dark arts that were assumed to reside near the village. Claire's guardian took great joy in participating and involving him to reap in the profits of easy money. He though, unlike so many could beyond doubt create real illusions and magic. He was a true practitioner of magic you regularly see in those video games that have become very popular over the years. Claire often found herself constantly hearing her guardian say which was true magician and which was fake. She often believed from a critic's perspective, her guardian was the harshest when it came to commenting on the performers potential. Every year, it felt the same to her. She didn't see the excitement in it herself, just constantly walking and watching the same tricks being performed more than once. As they reached one point of the festival, a tent made of carefully lined and decorated silk attracted Claire. It was a fortuneteller's tent. Her guardian wasn't a big fan of fortunetellers. "They are no good, always leaving innocent people with their cryptic tones and believing they can really read what the tarot cards actually mean? They are even worse then those that frame others saying that they are psychic, clairvoyant or mediums. All of them are just fat liars. Well the poor ones that can't pay for the Lipo anyways." Claire giggled a little bit. "Aw. It's good to get a little smile out of you. It makes me smile too and I know how much you like me smiling." She then began to wonder. "How did you…? You've been reading my mind haven't you?" Her guardian looked in fear, desperate to find a way to deter the conversation; he looked around and found the confectionary store. "I'll go get us some sweet treats. Now I know how much you like those." Claire nodded her head, "I'll be inside this tent."

Claire then entered the Fortune-Teller tent. "I've been expecting you, Claire Nash. You are a very interesting person indeed. Care for a bit of fortune telling?"

Claire was surprised that she knew her name. However, she didn't lose her cool. It was her job after all.

"Well, you be the boss. You supposedly know the future. Doesn't hurt to take a guess on the wild side?"  
"Your sarcasm intrigues me. Since you've been desperately conflicting yourself with such emotions about your sister."

Claire was stunned "So you can tell can't you?" The fortune-teller laughed, "You don't have to act tough on me Claire. I know how emotional you've been getting about your sister. I can tell you this, she's fine in the kingdom of the darkness." The woman said, mocking Claire.

"But if you have any hope in saving your sister from the Witch of the Shadows, you're going to need this." The fortuneteller handed over a star amulet to Claire. "This special amulet is called the Astral Amulet. It has the power of creation and is blessed from the stars. You'll need this for the journey ahead." The woman then stood up, starting a mysterious incantation. A dark magic circle was beneath the area Claire was standing on and soon shadows large areas of shadow were surrounding her. "This seems familiar to the magic of the Witch of the Shadows. But you can't be?"

"I'm not the Witch of the Shadows, I'm Mystic the creator of all magic itself. The Astral Amulet seemed to react when it came to you, making you the chosen one. However, if you think you can destroy the beasts that I've created with my magic, then think again. I'm going to curse you to make every inch of your journey much more harder."

Shadows of the circle then began to envelop on Claire, until her guardian arrived with a bag full of confectionary. A small beam of light was emitted from his hands striking her with a huge force, pushing her back. Claire's guardian then ran towards Claire, pushing her out of the magic circle. "You think you are going to escape the curse." The woman then began her incantation, this time much faster. Claire's guardian then was consumed in the darkness, but didn't disappear. This time, he was yelling in pain. "Not the target I wanted… Damn it and I worked so hard on that incantation. You!" she pointed at Claire, "Mark my words you will not disrupt the balance of the stars. Aries… Appear!"

The woman then vanished into thin air, while Claire could hear the villagers screaming in fear. She tended to her guardian, who was constantly yelling in agony. "Use the Astral Amulet… Claire. Use it to save them. Aries is an especially dangerous and aggressive astral beast…"


	4. Chapter 4: Fire

**Fire**

Claire's guardian after entering the village put Claire down and held her

Claire ran out of the tent only to see a large ram charging up houses and destroying the houses. It was so massive, probably twice as big as the fortuneteller's tent. The ram had curved blades sticking out of it's back with it's whole body covered in flames. The screams of the villagers got louder as many rushed outside of the village. Claire looked back in the tent, only to see her guardian struggle to stand up. "There's a large monster covered with fire and it's destroying the village."

"What does she, the creator of magic want…?" he muttered to himself. He then looked up to Claire and reached out for her shoulders. "Claire… That amulet… The one that the fortune-teller gave you, you need to use that to defeat the monster. The amulet has the power of the user's desires. If your desire is strong, it's capable to destroy Aries, the fiery ram. Leave me here and save the village, I'll be alright."

Claire's eyes started to water, her body shivering and her voice quavering in fear. "I'm scared"

Her guardian closed his eyes and gave a small smile. "It's okay Claire, you'll be alright. I'm your guardian after all. I wont let anything bad happen to you. Besides, you always wanted magic, don't you realize it's right there in the palm of your hand?"

"But… I don't even know how to use it? What am I supposed to do?" His smile wore away and his face giving a more serious atmosphere around the tent. "It will come to you, don't worry."

Claire then ran out of the tent and towards the village, where the fiery ram Aries was, roaming around with his flames, perishing all the buildings and the landscape of the village around it. "Stop… you monster…" Claire was in fear much more, standing small compared to the monster. "Don't you dar--"

"What do you think you're doing? Are you crazy?" a young girl said, who jumped down one of the few buildings that remained. She was armed with luminous gloves that had spikes over the areas of the knuckles. "Come to see my powerful knuckles in action?"

A young boy with a mysterious demeanour then approached Claire" So you're here to fight Aries? But you aren't even armed with any fighting equipment, you're just asking to be killed so get out of the way--" He then saw the object that Claire was holding in her hand "So you're the Astral one. Well I hope you tough enough to do your share."

"Astral one…?" Claire thought to herself. "Here it comes." The young girl says. "I hope you aren't one of those novice fighters, knuckle-girl."

"Don't condescend me sword boy. You don't even know what _I'm_ capable of."

The two ran towards the beast, which was facing towards their direction. The woman though developing feathery wings on her back flew up in the sky. Claire could see a bow and a bundle of arrows appearing in her hand. The boy however approached the fiery beast trying to pierce it with his sword.

Aries, groaned with pain twisting round and round in hope for the pain to stop. The young boy then fell from the beast and hit hard on the dirt floors. The ram then looked and the boy with a glare, fire enveloping inside its mouth.

"Oh damn, I knew he was just some stupid little boy." The young woman yelled out. "It has flames all over its body, it doesn't take a genius to realize a long distance approach is more effective." The bundle of arrows then turned a pale blue, resembling ice. The girl grabbed a few arrows and started shooting them towards the ram. "How do you like that?" With the ram distracted, Claire ran towards the boy, who was mildly injured from the fall. "Are you okay?" she said. She was terrified that all this was true. A giant ram with flames scorching on it's back? How on Earth did this happen? "I'm fine. You're supposed to be the one to take this thing down; you're the chosen one. What are you doing just standing there? Do something, or someone is going to be killed."

"Everything happened by accident. It was too fast…"  
"That's what I thought, someone unworthy taking up the Amulet… " He scoffed with anger. "We have to take that thing down with or without you. And judging by you're lack of initiative and standing there like a statue, I suppose we don't need your help." The boy then ran at a far distance, a large bag with sharp ice particles appeared… He then jumped up in an enormous length from the ground and started throwing them towards the beast. Already distracted from the girl, the ram still stunned in pain breathed out fire and aimed for her. She quickly dodged the flames, only to have one wing burned. She screamed in pain and fell to the ground. "Should have watched out for that," the boy said with delight. "Suppose you are just a novice."

Claire then ran towards the angel-winged girl. "Oh no… Everything's my fault I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that an angel got hurt."

"An angel? I'm not an angel! But everyone is going to be one unless you take that thing down. You have to do something, or everyone's going to get hurt."

"But… I don't know what to do." Claire said, looking down upon herself. "Maybe he's right, maybe I am just a disappointment. I haven't done anything. I made everything worse." Her amulet then shined and in Claire's hand grew a long stick that had a moon and a star stuck together on the top made of gold. The light beamed all over the village and there stood Claire, the chosen one of the stars stood with the _Astral Wand_.

"You've done it. You've activated the amulet. The chosen one…"

Claire then felt a surge of pride inside her and ran towards the monster in hope of defeating it with her newfound magical powers.

The monster already wounding the boy then stared towards Claire. "Wait… I don't even know how to use it…" Claire said in embarrassment.

"What! Then why the heck did you run for it? Now it's got you in it's sights and Aries is notorious for his aggression!"

"Oh no… I'm done for"

"Not yet…" the girl with the angel wings said. "Not if I can help it. Stun Arrow!" she yelled out. A large arrow then shot out at the ram, paralysing it with electric waves. "Go ahead, now cast a water based spell on it."

Claire thought to herself. "He told me that whatever I desired using this wand was going to happen… However, how strong my desire is determines its power."

"Okay." Claire announced, "I command you to build a water wall to defeat the monster."  
A few drops of water fell from the wand.

"What? What is that going to do?"

"Are you taking this seriously, come on and defeat it you idiot!" the boy angrily yelled.

The electric waves started to wear off, "My arrow's effect is losing it's power, you have to do something!"

In an instant, the wall of water struck Aries and continually stunned the beast. The water wall was enormous, covering a quarter of the beast's body in water. "That water wall isn't enough, it has to wear out the flames!" the girl said.

Claire nodded her head and started chanting. "With the power of water, bind this beast inside a sphere of rushing water. With the power of the Astral Wand, I command you!"

A sphere of water then appeared, encompassing the ram in waves that were created inside. The sphere was then levitated off the ground, where Aries was yelling in misery and then eventually drowned.

The angel girl ran towards Claire and jumped in joy. "You did it, you really did it! You defeated the ram." The boy on the other hand walked towards Claire. "What a fluke!"

Claire didn't know what to feel at that moment. Was she that powerful to strike down a ram that almost destroyed a village? She felt a little guilty, but then she grew a little prouder ignoring the boy's comments.

The ram though then rose and unexpectedly breathed fire towards the three. Claire panicked until a blue hemisphere of light nullified the flames.

Claire looked behind her only to see her guardian leaning upon a woman with a white coat and thick spectacles. Claire rushed towards her guardian and gave him a hug. "I knew you'd be here for me…" She smiled and hugged him tighter. "I did it. I really did it.


	5. Chapter 5: Doctor

**Doctor**

Claire's guardian after entering the village put Claire down and held her

The woman in the white coat let go of her guardian. "You should be able to stand up now Adrian, well I think you should be able to." Claire looked in shock, _Adrian? Was that his name? _She looked towards him and he gently nodded his head with a little smirk. "All these years and I didn't know your name?" she shouted. "Adrian is like a man of mystery, I didn't even know his name when we went for an adventure. I had to practically save his life to find out" the woman laughed, her white coat rustling in the breeze while dirt can be seen in patches of her coat. "Oh so you must be the Fated Star's Child? I should have known from that performance, I'm quite impressed especially trapping Aries in that orb of water" she said gleefully, her spectacles almost falling out. "May, you did a good job protecting her. We should go back to the retreat where the others are." The woman called out. The young girl rushed up towards the woman with the coat and she then nodded her head lightly and ran to the distance. "Adrian, are you going to let this girl… Travel with us in capturing the other astral beasts. We've collected some of the artefacts that could help us locate them…" The man closed his eyes and shook his head. "We can't let her face danger so soon. We should tell her about this first." The woman laughed, "Adrian, you're so cute when you are protective over something." She then ruffled his hair, which was a dark chocolate brown. "You know where we are Adrian when you're ready."

Claire was puzzled at the little conversation that took place a few minutes ago. She looked up to her guardian, now known as Adrian and then took a deep breath. "Who's that lady?" she asked, in curiosity. The man laughed. "When I told you about the stories where I went around saving the world, she was one of the people that travelled with us. She's a doctor who practices as an alchemist. She uses magic, metals, herbal substances and sciences for many purposes."

"Wow, that's a lot of things…." Claire said, pondering what half of those words meant. He then laughed again. "She's a lot of things to people."

Then a brief silence occurred and the winds grew fierce. Still with the magical wand in hand, Claire grew prepared of the arising threat. "Is it another monster?" Adrian nodded his head "Must be one of the Aries' henchmen."

A smaller ram appeared with fire on it's back. As it saw Claire and Adrian, it was ready to charge the two. Claire readied her wand for another spell, but then a gunshot could be heard from a distance. In an instant, Claire could see a small sphere of water ready that shot at the ram. It was from the woman in the white coat. "Are you two ready or what?" she shouted.

The defeated ram then turned into a white light that disappeared into Aries remains that still stayed in the same place where it was before. Then soon after Claire's magical wand then flew up in the sky, taking Claire with her. Claire was struggling to hang on and panicking at the events happenings at the moment. The Aries' remains then turned into a large white orb of light and Claire's wand approached the white orb taking Claire with her. A magical circle appeared beneath Claire, giving her a sense of balance while flying in above ground. "Phew I can finally relax." The magic circle disappeared once a sense of relief occurred. She then panicked once more and struggled to keep on. _Where did that magic circle go? _She thought to herself. The magical circle appeared once more and gave her balance yet again. The white orb of light then approached the wand as it collected the white light. The wand began to shake and Claire could feel the pressure quivering in her hands, but she held on while stressed. "Contain!" she yelled out on a whim. The wand then drew in the white light quicker than before. "Wow, it's a lot more faster." She thought to herself.

"The capturing process… She's learned how to do it. All by herself." The woman in the white coat explained. "You must be proud of her… Adrian." Adrian blankly stared, not taking notice of the comment, thinking so many things to himself.

Claire then floated down to the ground; a red aura surrounded her for a brief moment and then faded. She twirled the wand like a baton and caught it while smiling.

"Isn't time that you took her to meet the people Adrian." The woman said. "I suppose it is." Adrian gestured Claire to come to him and as she did, he held her on the hands and walked with the woman in the white coat.

"What's your name miss, and what do alchemists do?" The woman laughed to herself. "You sure are a bright one aren't you? My name is Lisa Forrester and you'll just have to wait and see for the other question!"

"Did you and my guardian travel together one time?" Lisa swayed her head covering her eyes and laughed again. "Yes we did, we went on saving the world as well like what you are about to do now."

Claire could feel Adrian's hand gripping hard on hers when he heard Lisa talking, but just as he saw Claire looking towards him, he turned his head to face the other direction.

"Alchemists are sort of like doctors. Just incorporating magic and metals into chemistry to make potions that can heal or hurt."

"So you're a magic doctor?"

"You could say that." Lisa smiled.


	6. Chapter 6: Talk

**Talk**

The three walked together on the gravel road

The three walked together on the gravel road. The sky was a dark and cloudy, like it was before. Claire could feel a sinister air among the road she was walking on. Was this how it was going to be in her journey? Her hands holding onto Adrian's .She clasped hard, scared of the outcome. Aries, the adversary monster… She could have been killed, like some of the villagers. Where did it come from? She was curious, but she knew that her curiousity in these times of danger could lead her to danger. However, she soldiered on looking forward holding the hands of her guardian, who will always protect her. He was her loyal, lovable guardian who was always there for her and the only one who loved Claire.

Adrian looked at the girl he cared for all these years. She saw her facing forward to the path ahead. A sudden gloom overcame him and a feeling of despair soon started to pulsate around him. He tried shrugging it off and then picked Claire up and carried her for the duration of the walk. "No one is going to make my little girl walk a long way." he said lovingly. Lisa smirked Claire grinned. Adrian, "Where did those monsters come from?" Claire asked. Adrian felt a surge of anger within him, he didn't know why but he seemed aggravated at the question. "Don't ask Claire…" he said with an underlying tone of contempt. "But I need to…" "You don't need to know anything!" he raised his voice, cutting her off. Lisa then took notice of this and stepped closer towards him, gesturing that she could carry Claire for the rest of the trip. "Stay away from her! You… You are the one that wants her to involve herself with danger." Adrian quickly turning away still carrying Claire with his two arms. "We aren't going to go… I don't want Claire to face these types of dangers."

"But…" the girl explained. "If I'm the chosen one to do this, then I'm the only one who can save the world…"

"Claire's right Adrian, you can't just run off from the things that you need to do. It will eventually catch up to you. You've got to face your destiny." Lisa clarified. "It's going to catch up and make those around you suffer if you don't."

"Yeah…" he scoffed. "I suppose you felt the same way when your sister Diane took the amulet and was cursed by the Mystic wasn't it? You still can't get over the fact that she died from the curse… Just because fate chose her to take the Lunar Amulet and save the world by sacrifice." Lisa clenched her fists and then suddenly put her hand in a large pocket that was on her doctor's coat, gripping something that was inside. "It's not like that Adrian. How dare you raise the death of my younger sister in something like this!"

"But it is the same thing Lisa. Because you are indifferent to Claire, because she's someone you don't even know. You can just easily let her be the "chosen one" couldn't you? You're pretty heartless for a doctor you know that? Pretty damn heartless."

Lisa laid her head down facing the floor. "You don't understand, you don't understand how hard it was to lose someone special to you… You were always the one who could just joke around anything, because nothing bad ever happened to you. At least you weren't the one that had to feel this misery. Misery that fate inflicted on me and my sister!"

"Yet at all this time, you just wanted to inflict it on me… Is that it Lisa? Your loss has to be mine too? Claire happens to be special to me too!"

"Maybe fate just had in store for you as it had for me." Lisa then picked up the object that was inside her pocket. "Oh what, so you are going to shoot me with your alchemy gun Lisa? Just kill me because you can't believe that anyone else held something special to their heart?"

"No!" Claire screamed out. Her amulet, then activating to the astral wand, "Don't kill him!" Lisa shook her head. "Stay out of this Claire! You don't need to get hurled into this." Adrian smiled. "You just want her for yourself so she can save the world again, just with someone else suffering from her loss. Just like you." Adrian put Claire down onto the ground, placing her behind him. "Stay back from this, I'm not going to let her hurt you." He then walked towards Lisa. "Shoot me, go ahead." He said with confidence. "But don't you dare think about getting Claire just to use her as a selfish cure to get you better from your past misery. Things don't go away like that."

Lisa held her gun with her hand readied on the trigger. "I'm sorry," she said, using her opposite hand to wipe her eyes. "I'm sorry that things had to turn out like this… But that's just the natural order of things. You have to do, what you have to do."

The doctor pulled the trigger and a cluster of needles came out of the gun. Adrian closed his eyes. "So be it…" While Claire couldn't look, covering her eyes with her hands. "This can't be happening… It just can't!"


	7. Chapter 7: Mist

**Mist**

A dark aura then surrounded Adrian, protecting him from the needles

A dark aura then surrounded Adrian, protecting him from the needles. Claire opened her eyes to witness an event similar to the magic in the fortune-teller's tent. Dark shadows swallowed up the needles and then a small portion of the shadow shot up, aiming for Lisa's arm holding the gun. "No… It can't be…" Lisa took notice of the shadow, which was shaped like a small comet hovering above Adrian. She glanced at Adrian, "It can't be… The curse from Mystic, you were cursed instead?" she shouted. The man spoke no words and pointed his finger at Lisa with no reluctance. Lisa shivered with fear, yet she closed her eyes to reclaim her concentration. She then opened them and loaded her gun with bullets that had a white glow surrounding them. The shadow then advanced at her direction, but Lisa stood tall aiming her gun at the figure and pulling the trigger. The bullets then turned into a glowing white bird that charged at the shadows, eventually disintegrating the shadow object.

Adrian made an evil laugh. "Using your best bullets already… You used to save your best bullets at the end."

Lisa sneered, "Only to make it hurt even more." Adrian then shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere, until you give up trying to sacrifice Claire."

"It's not sacrifice anymore… She's not the one that's going to have their souls wonder for eternity anymore."  
Adrian then looked back on Claire, witnessing the events and then turned back to Lisa. "No… That will be you." The man held his right hand open, his palm accumulating portions of the shadows and aimed it towards Lisa. Though a mist that was a dark pink colour interrupted the battle, causing both to wonder where it came from. "I cannot believe you two are fighting just like children! It's time for your bed time." Yelled a woman's voice. It projected throughout the whole field. Claire looked around, but the woman was nowhere to be found. Lisa and Adrian however fell into deep sleeps as they inhaled the dark pink mist. The woman then appearing from a top of the tree jumped with joy. "It worked! It worked! My sleeping solution worked!" she shouted with glee. She then saw Claire, who looked in surprised and questioning her sanity. "Who is that woman…? She's looks and acts so strange." Claire thought to herself. But then she looked over to both Adrian, gasping. She ran towards him to see if he was okay, but the pink mist still lingered. "I wouldn't go there if I were you. That mist is pretty dangerous." The woman said, almost in mockery and cheerfulness. Claire felt aggravated at the woman's light-hearted tone. "Then what did you do to them?" she yelled. "Well… I sort of, mixed sleeping seeds and crushed them with a dose of solution that causes fatigue… what was it called again?" Claire readied her wand against the woman, the woman realizing who Claire was. "You aren't seriously going to try and hurt me with the Astral Wand. I'm not evil! I'm good…" the woman said in a panicky tone. Claire was reluctant to take her comments and waves the wand once. "You better explain to me what you did to them and fix it before I use my magic!" she warned. "I'm not going to fix it, it's because I haven't created an aroma to wake people up from a deep sleep yet! Besides, they were fighting you know! It would have gotten worse if it wasn't for me." Claire took down her wand. "So they are in deep sleep?" she asked. "Yes… They were such good friends, even though they did fight a lot before…" she muttered, loudly to herself. "So you know them?" Claire quickly asked, with a bit of impatience in her tone. "I travelled with them… Saving the world. This is no time to chat, we better get in the caravan. A big muscular man named Lachlan, although he prefers to be called Andre is going to come and pick the two up. You better come with me and I'll explain to you. The woman then tried to jump down the tree, but accidentally slid of the tree with her high heels. Claire approached her, only to be able to see her more clearly. The woman was wearing a dark purple dress that was at the middle of the thigh length and was covered in pretty black and luminous stars, one of them being a pocket. "Urgh, that was some fall!" she mumbled to herself. Claire offered a hand to help her up, "You shouldn't be wearing heels when your climbing up trees." "Hmph! I dress whatever I want in battle. It's important to look alluring as a magical gypsy." Claire shrugged her shoulders. "Suit yourself, but wearing unsuitable clothes for any physical exertion is only going to make you a burden in the battle field." The woman chuckled. "That's where you are wrong." She took out a fan that was covered in numerous blades from a pocket in her dress and gently waved it towards the mist. A large gale then struck towards the mist, blowing the mist away and the pink mist then faded away. "My friends think I'm quite useful in the battle field." She said, certain of her victory. A muscular man then approached the two that were deep asleep. "Andre! Could you pick the two up and take them to the caravan?" the woman called out.

"Now… I think it's time we should explain things more clearly to you. Fated Star's Child." The woman said gleefully, almost forgetting her fall from the tree.


	8. Chapter 8: Caravan

**Caravan**

The gypsy woman took a hold of Claire's hand

The gypsy woman took a hold of Claire's hand. Don't be shy! I'm not going to bite. Claire took more notice of her complexion, she was very tanned and her arms were filled with different styled bangles and bracelets that could have been made from many gemstones and precious metals. "Come on, it's not that far." The woman almost dragging Claire towards the caravan, while holding her fan on the opposite hand.

The "caravan" once Claire saw it was more of a double-deck bus and was quite large. "When you are driving that around, don't people get suspicious?"

"Hmmm? Why do you say that?" The woman could not rid of her cheerful tone. "The windscreen wiper area is pretty high up, so parking officers don't bother giving us tickets! Teehee isn't that funny?"

Claire made a hesitant laugh… "Yeah… it is sort of…" The woman gave Claire a little shove. "Come on it's funny… No it's because you are too young to appreciate it." The caravan "bus" was adjacent towards a red tent made of silk. "What's in that tent?" Claire asked. "Oh it's where we are keeping Adrian… You know we better separate the fighters before they go loose again. I don't have another powerful sleeping solution… So it's best not they fight anyways!"

"Anyways, we'll explain about the whole journey tomorrow. Gosh I'm tired! Aren't you Claire? I heard you were impressive from May from that battle with Aries. I should have been there! But I was too busy making sure the tent was perfect! Red silk, made from a special silkworm called the Inferno Worm. Apparently, according to Fred… Freddy, another very studious friend of mine, they form from the larva of a volcano and the silk they produce keeps warmth and is a ward against fire-based elements! Isn't that marvellous?" Claire nodded with disinterest, forcing a smile upon herself. "You're not interested? Well maybe it's because you're tired! You can see Adrian if you want, but make sure you come back in the caravan after to rest." The woman then ran towards the caravan in heels joyfully. She rushed to the door, but found it locked. "Andre, open the door!" she yelled. No answer from the door. "Andre! Open the door now!" her yells getting louder. She started ramming the door with her fists aggressively. "If someone DOESN'T open the door immediately, you'll pay!" The woman then turned to Claire, smiling at her direction. "Good night!" she said calmly, before turning back to hit and yell at the bus door. Claire looked at her for a minute. "She IS strange…" she whispered to herself. And then she entered the red tent, seeing Adrian resting there peacefully on a hospital bed. Claire wondered to her self, "Where did they get a hospital bed?" And then shook her head to deter herself from the thought. She took a chair from the corner and sat very close to him. His eyes closed and quietly breathing… He was asleep. "You better be okay… Adrian. Don't leave me. I'm scared of this journey." She then laughed to herself. "I don't think I could ever have done this without you." She rested her head on his torso and held him. "I love you," she spoke silently, then falling asleep


	9. Chapter 9: Visions

**Visions**

The room was dark, leaving a blue luminous glow that came from the rattling windows of the strong gales that pressed upon them

The room was dark, leaving a blue luminous glow that came from the rattling windows of the strong gales that pressed upon them from outside. Opposite the two beds leaning upon the wall of the door of entrance was a dark alcove. The nightmare that haunted Claire in her sleep happened again. The woman with the dark aura was back again, going to take away her sister. Her screams of misery when dragged into the darkness by shadow-like entities that appeared like octopus tentacles, dragging her to the shadows. Her guardian realizing the screams rush to the door, forming a beam of light from the palm of his hands to strike at the shadowy woman, only to be swallowed into the darkness. The woman evilly laughed. "You cannot defeat me with those petty light beams. The darkness is too strong, and it will overcome all light." The woman spoke. Adrian only to growl in anger, unable to doing anything to save Claire's little sister Kristen that night, however something changed within that scenario that kept crawling back as that horrific memory. Adrian looked upon Claire differently this time. "You look different Claire," he said in a curious tone. "And what's that you're wearing around your neck?" The girl then looked upon herself realizing the Astral Amulet given to her by that fortune-teller. "It's the Astral Amulet. Adrian we can save Kristen. I just need to activate it!" Claire jumped up with a sense of realization. "The Astral Amulet?" the Witch of the Shadows questioned. "Oh no…"

A small sphere of light surrounding the amulet and then it became the Astral Wand, exactly the same as the one she used to fight against Aries. "That's magic…" Adrian muttered. "That's right Adrian! And now Witch of the Shadows, let my sister go before you really get hurt by me!" Claire shouted. "How did you know my name?" Adrian thought to himself. "You aren't going to fool me with your party games… Don't you know how this dream ends Claire? I always win." The Witch of the Shadows stated. "And the next night you'll be haunted by this dream again. Again and again till your death!"

Kristen's cries got louder, until the shadows drowned her out and suddenly disappearing. "Kristen!" Claire shouted out. "Your little sister is gone Claire, drowned out into the shadows where she'll stay with me and be part of the sacrificial ritual."  
"Enough! I've had it with you." Claire yelled in a burst of anger. "Light! Bind this woman with your heaven's rays and punish her with your holy blades! I COMMAND YOU!" she yelled. Adrian never seeing her this angry before was undecided, witnessing powerful magic in the little girl's bedroom. Small ribbons of light surrounded the Witch of the Shadows, wrapping themselves around the Witch of the Shadows, making her unable to move. After, a magic circle appeared under the witch, rays of light bursting out from them. The Witch cried in pain, "Stop it. Stop it now!" Claire raised her wand up in the air, and swords with bright radiance appeared above her. "The crime you committed was wrong. And now you will receive the divine punishment. I bid you an eternity of suffering for all the sins you've committed!" Claire screamed, lowering her wand down "Judgment!" The swords that appeared above Claire then struck the Witch. "Do you feel the suffering you've caused others with your darkness?" she asked, with an aggressive tone. She then raised her wand and lowered it again, another sword then striking the witch that was in agony. The witch couldn't take it anymore, falling in the magic circle. "Please no more…"

"Then don't you dare come back to haunt my dreams! Give me back my sister!" The witch refused. "GIVE me back my sister Kristen!" she shouted once more. The final blade that hovered over expanded larger and developed more radiant glow than the previous ones. Claire then closed her eyes as the Witch refused. "Then meet your fate. May heaven's wrath judge you." And then she lowered the Astral Wand, the final and strongest blade striking the Witch. The witch screamed in pain and agony, the shadows disappearing and soon the Witch disappearing with the magic circle that surrounded her. An unconscious girl appeared with her hair messily arranged and her arms together as if she was praying for salvation. "Kristen? Kristen!" Claire called out, rushing towards the little girl. Adrian was spellbound from what he has witnessed, but before too long a voice could be heard from above the room. "Claire, I'm surprised you actually defeated the Witch of the Shadows… But you should know that your little sister Kristen's soul is absorbed by the darkness."

"What? Where is that voice coming from? It sounds so familiar…" Claire wondered. "What on Earth is going on?" Adrian exclaimed. "You've met me before…"

A woman appeared, resembling the fortune-teller that same night in the magic festival. "You're the woman from the fortune teller tent aren't you?" Claire expressed. "Oh you are a bright one. You might have defeated the Witch, but you wont defeat the curse I've put on your lovely… Attractive and loyal guardian Adrian." The woman then chanted the same incantations in the room, exactly the same as the one in the tent. A magic circle appeared under Adrian, resembling the same one in the tent. "What's going on Claire? What is this?" Adrian asked to Claire. "It's the curse… Stop it now!" Claire then held her wand and pointed it towards the woman. "Shadows, may you claim their soul!" Shadows consumed Adrian, and then disappeared leaving an unconscious Adrian lying on the floor.

"What did you do to him?!" Claire cried. "Why did you do this to him for?" The woman then laughed mocking Claire and her position. "I felt like it. And besides, don't waste your time trying to save him in the real world. He's already gone. My curse is too powerful to overcome."

Claire then woke up from the nightmare, opening her eyes in an instant feeling her hair stroked by a hand. She looked and saw Adrian awake with his eyelids opened half way. "Don't tell me you've been sleeping on my stomach all night!" he smiled. Claire squeezed onto him tighter. "Thank god you're alive…"


	10. Chapter 10: Explain

**Explain**

"That means you have been sleeping on my stomach all night

"That means you have been sleeping on my stomach all night." Adrian said with a smirk on his face. Claire pulled an irritated face, getting herself to stand up. "I'm worried about you!" Her guardian laughed, almost mocking her good intentions. "There's nothing you need to worry about. Besides, I need to worry about you. You don't need to worry about me." He said in a joking manner. Claire wasn't impressed. "What about when you fought Lisa with those dark shadows?" Claire demanded an answer. Adrian suddenly turned his attention towards Claire and behaved a bit more seriously. "That wasn't anything Claire… You don't have to worry about that."  
"But… You were in my dreams, cursed and killed by that fortuneteller that we met in the tent! I have to worry." Adrian reacted in shock, his face turning from a complete smile into a realization of sadness. "Claire…" he looked around the tent until confronting the girl. "I'm not going to leave you."

"Rise and shine everyone!" the strange woman appeared, in a short yellow dress that was shorter than her starry purple dress last night. "Adrian, I seriously don't believe you got into a fight with Lisa!"

"Oh no…" Adrian replied back. "Claire stay back, crazy woman alert. Crazy woman alert." The woman wasn't amused. "Adrian! Do you have to be so persistent with your attitude! I'm not crazy!" She crossed her shoulders. "Besides, if it wasn't for me, you would have gotten yourself seriously hurt!"

"How could you say that?" Claire interrupted. "You used a deadly sleeping solution!" The woman laughed. "Hardly deadly, not for Adrian anyways. Seems like he copped it better than Lisa did."

"Lisa…" Adrian muttered to himself. "What happened to Lisa?" Claire asked. "I hope she's okay" Adrian got out of the hospital bed and approached Claire. "She'll be alright. She's a strong woman. I should know."

"Anyways, I got to go. She's bound to be awake by now. I made a medicinal potion that hopefully gets her up soon!" The woman then walked out of the tent and opened the door to the "caravan" bus. "Thank goodness, its opened." She thought to herself. "She just walked into the tent, interrupting our conversation. She's really strange too."

"That's what we thought when we met her in our journey. She's into strange stuff. Don't let her constantly happy and air-headedness scare you. Thinking that she's crazy actually calms you from seeing what she really is."

"What is she really?" Claire asked. "Stupid." Adrian replied, with a smile on his face. He then kneeled down and hugged her smiling. "Everything's going to be alright."

The two headed into the caravan bus, and inside there were a small entourage of people. Lisa Forrester, the strange woman and the girl with the angel wings where part of them. Another was a tall, muscular man quite larger compared to Adrian himself. The boy with the swords that was in battle with Aries that night was also one of them. The final one being a small furry cat with caricature wings behind a sewing machine, decorating a piece of clothing. Already, it seemed like it was nearly finished and it was part of an ensemble piece. "All done." The cat said, with a whiny voice. "W-what? A talking cat? How cute!" Claire said, excited. "How dare you refer to me just as a 'cat'. I'm a sophisticated magic cat."

"More like feral." The boy with swords said. "Hey! Don't let me use my magic to teach you a lesson!"

"He has been preparing a magical costume for you Claire! Working on it all night actually. But I guess he's cute isn't he?" the strange woman said. "Shouldn't we be explaining who we are towards the little girl?" the tall muscular man said, holding onto an energy drink with his large fists.

"Wait, lets make her wear my masterpiece first!" the talking 'magic' cat insisted. The creature held the costume and chanted a few words. Then the costume magically disappeared, only for Claire to be wearing the costume over her current clothes. "How did you do that?"  
"That's why I'm just not a cat!" A few blue stars then circled around Claire, showering her with glittering particles that soon faded away. Claire felt a sense of joy and appreciated and gazed at the beauty of the stars and then realizing her costume. It was a dress, decorated with frills and lace and similarly resembled a dress from old times. "Thank you, thank you so much! I really appreciate this. Wow!" The talking cat laughed. "Now that's more like it!" Lisa then approached Claire and briefly glanced towards Adrian giving him a short glare. "We are a travelling ensemble, attempting to rid the world of these dangerous beasts that have appeared in our world recently. They resemble those that some of our ensemble has fought before. They are known as the Astral Beasts."  
"Astral Beasts?" Claire asked. "Yes, they are notorious for their power and base their powers on the 12 astrological signs of the Zodiac."

"But the Zodiac is just stories isn't it?" Lisa shook her head. "No. As you see, the creator of magics. Mystic, the discoverer and first magic sorceress has created these beasts using only her imagination and the power of the constellations in the sky."

"They are influenced by the star signs" the girl with angel wings said. "Our travelling ensemble is dedicated to defeat these monsters so the world can rest without fear. It's going to be a dangerous adventure, but we need to help us. You need to seal the powers of the Astral Beasts in that amulet so they don't appear anymore. Will you join us?" She then looked towards Adrian, and looked unconvincingly confident.

"Of course I will!" Claire said on an impulse, she still excited from the dress that was made for her. "That's right then, we should introduce ourselves first! I forgot to introduce myself, even when I've met you! Gosh, I'm so stupid." The strange woman said. "Go figure" the boy with swords said. She didn't take notice of that comment and approached Claire, shaking hands. "I'm Lucy, and that arrogant little boy there is Mark. That big strong man is Andre" The muscular man, then giving a smile and strengthening his arms, boasting his muscles. "That girl with the wings is May and the Kitty Cat is Socrates." The cat yelled. "I'm not a kitty cat!"

"Anyways, welcome aboard to the travelling ensemble Claire. Adrian it's so good to see you too!" Claire looked up towards her guardian, "Adrian you're alright with this right?" Adrian nodded his head. "As long as I'm here with you, I'm fine with anything."

"Well lets get going then!" Lucy said, in a cheerful manner. "Where are we heading?" Claire asked. "To the airport, we will wait for the plane to reach Texas, USA to confront Scorpio in the Texas deserts." Lisa confirmed with a determined stance


	11. Chapter 11: Waiting On An Airplane

**Waiting On An Airplane**

"Texas, USA"

"Texas, USA? How do you know that the Astral Beast is there? And Scorpio?" Claire asked. "There have been some reports on people missing in the desert and the spawning of many scorpions in the deserts. We also have the astrological tracking glyph, which allows us to locate a beast nearby." May explained. "Scorpio is mostly dangerous for it's poisonous stringer on its tail. We need to be mostly cautious of that." In the background, Lucy was seen playing with Socrates, Andre was being bossed around by May and Mark was all alone looking at his sword. "Who's going to drive the bus?" Claire wondered. "I will" Lisa replied back, with haste. "We're heading for the nearby airport."  
"Doesn't Texas sound fun? I wonder how many country people we are going to meet there!" Lucy said, jumping in joy. "There are city people in Texas too isn't there?" Andre asked. "Of course there is! You have to understand Texas has cities, farms like many other cities in the world!" Socrates said.  
"What a pointless discussion… Don't you think we should start thinking about how we can defeat Scorpio and defending the bearer to the amulet?" Mark replied with a condescending tone. "But don't you think we should have some fun along the way too?" Lucy joyously thought. "I suppose he's right. Refine your weaponry or magic. We're going to need it. Aries was an aggressive beast, Scorpio is much more sneaky and is a master of ambush." Lisa explained and then went towards the driver's seat and started the bus.

Adrian took a seat on the bus leaning his head on the window and watching the scenery pass. The village where they used to live was surrounded with plenty of dark oak trees with a deep green complexion on the leaves. Claire sat at the seat next to Adrian's and leaned her head on his shoulders hugging him. "I wonder what's happening with my mum and dad. Probably just too busy checking their financial well being I suppose. Do you think they have forgotten me?" Claire asked, pondering while trying to remember a moment of when she was with her parents. Adrian averted his gaze from the windows and towards Claire, "They haven't forgotten you. You are special girl Claire, no one will ever forget you." He said, then turning towards the windows again. He spotted Lisa in the corner of his eye watching back on them in the driver's seat. "Finally you've seen things through…" Was what she thought in her mind.

Lucy spent her time gazing outside the window too, blankly staring with a façade of despair on her face. She watched the clouds moving in covering the light from the sun. "Lucy! What do you think about this?" Andre spoke proudly, showing her his enormous strength. She smiled, "Andre…you're such a big idiot…" she muttered to herself. Socrates spent most of his time making protective clothes and gear. He also spent some time cooking in the kitchen and making breakfast and preparing for lunch and dinner. While Mark spent his time training with his swords, swinging it in the air and practicing, May on the other hand helped clean up the bus.

"So all of these people are your friends from the past?" Claire asked Adrian. "Few of them. Andre, Lucy and Lisa were some of the people at our adventure, saving the world. But people change in so many years."

The trip took about 2 days. Constant arguments grew between May and Mark about skill that soon became a matter of name-calling in the last day. Andre built up his muscles by constantly working on the gym set while Socrates grew hatred over the fact that the bus was filthy during those two days. "That's why I NEVER ever have a place of resting my mind here! I need to worry and clean up everyone's and I mean EVERYONES mess."

As they went into the cities, many saw the crowds of pedestrians staring strangely towards the bus. Claire, Andre and May waved their hands towards the people, while Lucy and Adrian still looked to see what was outside, with glum faces. Soon, they reached the airport. "Wait, do you people have money to buy for a ticket?" Claire asked. "Come on Claire! Some of the people in the bus are magicians. They can 'make' money." Socrates stated. "Woops, I got to stay still and act like a plush toy." Socrates then, did not move for a long duration of time and probably did turn himself into a toy. Lucy was wearing a small white dress with a green ribbon wrapped around the middle and was wearing white strapping heels. Male airport attendants gave her winks and flirtatious facial gestures. "Oh you!" she said in delight from the attention, waving her fan to cool herself off. "Stop it please! We don't want anything more troubles as it is." Lisa adamantly stated. "Her beauty compensates for her lack of a brain." Mark said, laughing to himself. Andre burst into laughter as well. May was aggravated at both of their insults towards Lucy. "You shouldn't be like that you know! She's a bright person and you should treat her with respect!"

Lisa bought tickets for the airplane to Austin, Texas and gestured with her hands that everyone needed to wait at least 10 hours for the flight. Adrian sat himself down on one of the waiting places in the terminals and observed the planes flying. Lisa constantly checked the times for when the airplane was bound to arrive. Andre and Socrates spent much of their time in the food court, while May spent her time walking around shops and stores. Particularly popular fashion stores. Lucy went to a natural medicine store to pick up a few herbs and scents and Mark leaned his back onto a pillar waiting for the airplane. "You know you should be more accepting and happy for people just for once." Mark ignored her and looked towards the other way. Lucy then walked away giving up on trying to convince him, while Claire went around exploring… They were waiting on an airplane after all, that was coming in 10 hours.


	12. Chapter 12: Accidental Fame

**Accidental Fame**

Lucy garnered much attention from the Austin-Bergstrom airport in Texas

Lucy garnered much attention from the Austin-Bergstrom airport in Texas. Stares were most apparent towards the eccentric travellers, many looking at the unusual clothes that Lucy was wearing at the time. "These country people are funny! They seem to think of us as a peculiar bunch of travellers!" Lucy said, collapsing herself into laughter. "Maybe we _are_ a peculiar bunch of travellers?" Socrates muttered to himself, while still keeping himself still as a toy. "Just try to keep as nonchalant as possible." May whispered to the group, then directing gleaming smiles towards the people who stared. Lucy waved and stopped as she was waiting for Andre. Andre, with his large biceps and striking features attracted children. A girl with a read balloon rushed up to him, her mother calling out to her to come back. "Angela! We don't need anymore trouble as it is." The woman approached the muscular man to collect her child from him. "You look like a super hero you know?" the little girl said to Andre. "Why thank you little girl, your name is Angela right? Keep standing tall!" Andre said, pretending to be a hero like those featured in comic books. "And stay at school." Her mother grabbed her daughter by the hand and tried to walk off. "Angela, stay out of trouble. You know what it could lead to." Adrian glanced towards the woman and thought about Claire, then averting his gaze on her. As the mother and daughter walked away, the little girl then ran towards the group yet again, as if she had something to say. She ran, releasing herself out of her mothers grasp and stopped at Claire. She looked up to Claire, still holding her red balloon and innocently stared directly to her eyes. "Are you going to save us? Are you here to save us from that giant scorpion in the deserts?"

"Angela, that's enough! Lets go home now." The mother said. Lisa and Claire noticed the mother's trousers being ripped in the lower areas, and her jacket ragged. "But mom, that scorpion took away Daddy, didn't it?" the little girl announced. The woman then slapping her across the face, "Don't you dare speak of that Angela, come on lets go. Now!"

"So your husband died in the desert by a giant scorpion in the desert?" Lisa asked to the woman, approaching her with interested. "What do you want? Do you want to convince me that I am that pathetic woman in the state of Texas? I already know that okay?" the woman said, her voice elevating in anger and sound.

"I'm inquiring about the giant scorpion your daughter knowingly speaks of." The woman then glared at Lisa. "How dare you? Who do you think you are? Just asking away questions like that? Stay away from me now. Come on Angela lets go home." The woman then walking away from the travelling ensemble.

"How long do you have to lie to your daughter? Judging by the clothes your wearing right now, you've been attacked by the giant scorpion."

The woman then turned her back around to face Lisa. "And you thought the whole country would have believed me when I requested an investigation towards the case? But no, I've turned out to be the laughing stock of the country. What have I gained from trusting the Government or the police? Nothing."

"Well if you give us the details, then we may be able to help." The woman clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. "How on Earth can you help? My husband is dead! And you're telling me you can help with that? Get out of my sight! If this is a practical joke, then please just go away! Wait… I get it; you are one of those journalists that mock everyone they write about! Well here's the scoop for you, "The woman, ridiculed by a nation tells you to shove the article up where the sun doesn't shine."

"Listen, if you are going to be that arrogant, that giant scorpion will kill more people than your husband. Do you want that?" Lisa said, furiously. Reaching her hand in her pocket. "No Lisa! That isn't the way!" Adrian shouted. "I agree, that's just wrong!" Lucy joining in. "So I suppose you and your friends has some sort of way to destroy that scorpion in the desert. Don't make me laugh. Actually, do make me laugh! I deserve a bit of compensation after what fame has done to me. Your husband gets killed in the desert… And everyone just laughs when you just want someone to actually listen what you have to say. Someone to actually do his or her best into caring about the fact that a giant scorpion in the desert killed not only my husband, but those others that were there during the incident." The woman then started to cry, wiping her eyes with her opposite hand to the ones that were holding onto her little daughter Angela.

"But you can trust us, we believe you. We really do." Andre claimed. "That's true, we are a weird bunch, but we've seen many things around in this world. We don't think you are crazy or anything!" Lucy stated. "It may be hard… We don't doubt that at all. We just really want to find that giant scorpion… So it doesn't trouble anyone else." Lisa said, trying to calm the woman and herself. "You and your daughter really don't have a home to go to anymore do they? Not after the scorpion attack…"

The little girl, Angela holding onto that red balloon looked towards her mother that was still in tears over the confrontation. "Mom, I think we can trust these people…" She said. The woman then looked towards her daughter, shaking but nodding her head. "I hope we can Angela… I hope we can."


	13. Chapter 13: Mind The Thoughts

**Mind The Thoughts**

The woman sighed and closed her eyes

The woman sighed and closed her eyes. "We'll go somewhere more clandestine first, I don't want anymore people pointing their fingers and laughing." The group then walked towards a bus stop where they stayed and waited. "We're waiting at a bus stop? What a waste of time…" Mark said in a cold manner. "Things weren't going to be easy, there's a lot of waiting in a journey than you expect." Lisa said towards Mark. Lucy and Claire both took a seat in chairs that were cased in glass wall from behind and on top. In Claire's arms, she held Socrates who was lying quietly closing his eyes to not attract a crowd of people. Adrian walked towards the road, in search of a bus but in intervals looked back to watch the group, particularly Claire to see if she was okay. However, when Claire caught him looking back, he would immediately look for the bus as if he had done so the entire time. Lucy smiled. "He really does care for you a lot doesn't he?" she said, emitting a small giggle. Claire nodded her head, "I guess he does." Lucy then looked towards Claire and then looked high up in the sky stretching her arms. "I hope nothing bad happens to him. He's such a great guy. He's the only one who doesn't think I'm just stupid person in the group." Lucy said, then looking down at the pavement. "I know he has had times when he'd make fun of something I'd say… But he's only joking around. I get the impression that he's the only one who cares about me in this journey and the last one we had together. He's the only one who appreciates or even takes a listen to anything I say. No one else does." Lucy then shook her head. "Ugh! I'm ranting like an old man! I need to get some air to clear my head. Take care of Socrates Claire!" she said. Claire then took notice of where Lucy was going. Lucy sneaked up to Adrian and tapped him in the shoulder, scaring him. Both of them started laughing in the distance and talked, Lucy being very expressive with hand gestures. At one point, Adrian turned towards Claire, smiling at her. Lucy then turned to her and waved at her. Claire gave her a little wave back and thought about the adventure they might have had together those years ago.

"The things that crazy woman says sometimes…" Socrates said. "You shouldn't call her crazy if she's feeling a bit unappreciated and lonely in the group you know!" Claire said to the cat, rubbing his stomach and stroking his furs. "Appreciation only comes from people that prove their worth. There's no mystery to it. Unless you are useful to them, no one is going to like you."

"That's a bit mean don't you think? I know that for a fact that in some cases, people just think of themselves too highly to be impressed by others." Claire referred this comment to Mark, who she glanced at while making that comment. He was keeping to himself mostly, leaning upon the glass while inspecting Lisa and the woman's discussion. As she glanced, Angela the little girl still holding her red balloon stared at Claire strangely. "Why are you talking to a toy?" Claire was very much embarrassed and stood up from the seat. "Um… I don't know why actually. I guess it's a little comforting sometimes."

Adrian and Lucy then glared bizarrely. "What is she doing?" they both thought. Claire found herself in an awkward moment. "Say, Angela… Don't you talk to your toys too?" Angela shook her head. "I'm not a baby anymore. Besides, I hate cats. They get everything messy all the time!" Socrates got furious. "You think we're messy! I cleaned up a whole caravan-full of everyone's mess! And what do I get little girl, you ask? Nothing!" Socrates yelled out. "Oh no!" Lucy thought. "Great, he blew his own cover."

"T-The cat just talked!" Angela shivered. "It's so cute! Can I hold him?" Claire was surprised at Angela's reaction. "She's not scared of a talking cat? Well, I guess I wasn't when I saw him. I just thought it was strange."

Claire passed the cat over to Angela who was excited. "Aw! Isn't she just the sweetest?" Socrates said. He seemed to enjoy Angela's company a lot more than anyone else. Angela and Socrates started a conversation and laughed with each other. Socrates, even though thinking of himself as an intellectual didn't mind the small, immature questions asked by Angela. In fact, it seem that he loved them.

Adrian and Lucy had waved towards to the ensemble that was waiting on the bus. "It's here, it's here!" Lucy shouted and then they all hopped aboard on the bus.


	14. Chapter 14: Passing Roads

**Passing Roads**

Angela pulled Andre along and sat on the seat just behind the bus driver

Angela pulled Andre along and sat on the seat just behind the bus driver. Her mother and Lisa sat on seats that faced opposite towards the windows and then silently looked at the three seats in their sights. No one sat opposite to them. Adrian and Lucy, despite them talking and enjoying their time when they were sat at different places, as they both wanted to sit at the windows. Even though the bus was empty, apart from the driver, Mark decided not to take a seat and stood up holding onto the pole. May muttered something to herself as she passed him to find a seat behind a glass frame. She then gestured Andre to come and sit next to her. As he refrained, shaking his head, she then started punching the seat next to her. "If you damage the seat, you have to pay for it!" the bus driver complained. Andre feeling despaired then decided to sit next to her. The bus then took off, with only these eccentric travellers who were planning their next destination: Austin, Texas. The bus trip was going to be long, that's when Lisa then decided to ask the woman all the hard questions.

"I'd just like to--"

"My name is Shawn Lane, and I'll tell you everything about the incident." The woman interrupted. "I know… I might as well tell you everything to save you the trouble for asking" Shawn said, only to have a miserable tone in her voice. She looked down at her hands, which were resting on her lap, playing with her fingers before taking a long deep breath. "My husband Robert Lane is a land surveyor of the Chihuahuan Desert, across the border of Texas and in Mexico. One day he decided to use the tour service of the desert to explore the desert with his co-workers trying to figure out why many sandstorms were occurring in the outback. I tagged along, taking Angela as well because she really wanted to see what her father did for work. The people who booked the times for that tour also came, I remember a lovely Australian man Darren, a Swedish car-model Sophie and Penelope, a nurse who took one of the patients she cared for to the desert. In the bus, her patient a very old man told tales and legends of the Chihuahuan desert. He was a little cryptic however, saying that God was punishing us with rapid sandstorms due to all the sins we've committed and yet have not faced retribution. During the trip, the bus suddenly just stopped as the bus was hit hard with all the sand storms. However the sandstorms suddenly stopped. The surveyors including my husband took a look outside the bus. They travelled far into the distance, I saw them running back. A giant black scorpion with great big claws and a large tail began chasing them. The scorpion was gigantic; I can almost say 10 times larger than this bus we're travelling in right now. Almost bigger than the buildings that stands tall in Austin's metropolitan put together. Unluckily, the scorpion killed the surveyors including my husband, for some of them the large claws crushed them. For others, they were sucked into its mouth by powerful winds. For my husband… The stinger of the beast impaled Robert. I ran outside, and couldn't believe the killings and the massive size of the scorpion. I then began running on the road, with my daughter Angela to run for the next city. But for everyone else, who still remained on the bus, the scorpion crushed them into pieces. From a nearby city, I took I rode a bus with my daughter to get to Austin to report the news."  
"Then that's when… you were ridiculed by the public." Lisa interrupted, looking down upon herself. "I'm so sorry to trouble you for your loss."

Lucy, from peering on the passing roads outside the window then stood up from her seat and approached both Lisa and the disheartened Shawn and pressed her chin with her index finger. "I couldn't help but overhear. But don't you think it's strange that people haven't been suspicious for the loss of these people?"  
"Maybe this event hit hard for those that didn't have anyone that cared for them." Shawn said, covering her eyes and shaking her head in distraught.

"But even if that may be the case, the driver should have signed in or something when he finished his job! Shouldn't the tour company be bothered by his long disappearance?"

"I contacted them… Wait, I just realized now that something's wrong." Shawn exclaimed.

"When I contacted them about our schedule, the booking told us that the bus driver came back alive."

"But he couldn't have, the scorpion crushed the bus right?" Lucy said. "Then something suspicious is going on then… Who would do such a thing though?" Andre intersected. Lisa gave a little gasp, but it was unnoticeable towards anyone, apart from Adrian who had been watching her reactions all this time. "It's ironic isn't it? Surveyors are workers hired and are from the Government. However, when they disappear the Government doesn't care about their whereabouts." Shawn said, laughing at her statement.  
"It must have been hard for you to face humiliation from the public like that. But don't worry, we'll set it out so the country will spew in their coffees and be sorry for making fun of the truth." Lucy said, in hope of enlightening Shawn over the matter. She then reached to her pockets in her yet again new clothes. This time, she wore a jacket over her usually short dress, with platform boots. When she felt something in her pocket, she then looked up and nodded her head smiling.

"I assume they still run those tours for the Chihuahuan desert don't they?" Adrian asked, raising his voice to make sure Shawn had received the message. "Yes they still do."

"And no one reported missing cases?" he said, shaking his head and raising his eyes. Shawn took a small breath and exhaled it in discontent, closing her eyes. "No one even takes it seriously anymore, not after I went public with the so called "False Scorpion" story. I thought you knew that…"

Adrian then realized this and put his hand across his face feeling remorse. "I'm so sorry Shawn."

"It's okay. I'm just curious on why you people want to know about the incident so much. It's like you are hunting the thing."  
"We are actually… That's why we want you to take us to the place where you booked the trip. We plan on going on a tour ourselves." Adrian said with a small smile on his face.

"B-But, you'll just get killed!" Shawn stuttered.

"We've got no choice, we are going to confront the scorpion because we have to." Lisa replied.

"Are you positive with this? You can't be serious!"

"Don't worry about us Shawn, nothing is going to happen to us. Besides, we really want to help. We don't want anymore people to disappear because of this scorpion and we don't want you to go through anymore public ridicule anymore." Lucy said, comforting Shawn.

Adrian, Lucy, Lisa and Andre felt that their confrontation with Scorpio was imminent, however Socrates felt more joy talking to Angela, still holding onto that red balloon from the airport, to the bus travelling past the scenery on the way to the Metropolitan of Austin, Texas.


	15. Chapter 15: Poison!

It was only after two days that the travelling ensemble found themselves travelling on a long bus trip again, only now they we

It was only after two days that the travelling ensemble found themselves travelling on a long bus trip again, only now they were preparing for their confrontation with Scorpio. Lisa could often be found planning tactics and mixing potent chemicals together with beakers and glass tubes found in her coat pockets. Andre found whatever he could that was heavy around him and started to lift them and do certain workouts that trigger and develop his muscular strength. May sharpened her arrows by forming a red glow on the tip using her hands, while Mark silently like always, practiced his abilities with swords. Adrian helped with everyone with their practices and abilities; very rarely did he practice his own skills in magic. Lucy, danced and did ballerina twirls mostly, but sometimes when she grew tired of dancing she would join Lisa in making chemical potions that may aid them during battle. Only Claire found herself muddled with what to do to refine her "Star Magic". Looking confused, Lisa then approached her and sat down right next to her. "Don't worry about a thing. I've been planning a tactic to defeat Scorpio. Since Adrian is going to worry about you a lot, you keep to the back and let everyone handle the rest."

"But there must be something I can do!" Claire urged. Lisa nodded her head, "You have to contain Scorpio's powers in that amulet of yours. That's what you have to do. There's no need for you getting hurt."

Claire took a deep breath and felt as the weak link of the team, despite her newfound powers.

"Finally, that trip took ages!" Lucy said, stretching her arms wide and getting off the bus. "Don't wonder carelessly out of the bus, it's dangerous just to do that these days." Andre said, looking around cautiously after taking the last step out of the bus. "Geez, you're not my mother you know!" Lucy said in annoyance. She looked on the distance and rushed with the breeze. "Oh my goodness, everyone come here! Quickly."

Lisa ran towards Lucy with all seriousness. "Don't tell me that Scorpio has appeared already. Everyone be on your guard!" she commanded.

"No, silly. It's the Austin music festival. I really want to go!" she said. She then burst into laughter, "Scorpio has appeared already, you really need to take a chill pill!"

"Your light-heartedness may be a great quality, but really doesn't help in these instances." Lisa said annoyed with Lucy.

"I wouldn't mind going either" Socrates said. "Okay, then we can go together, it's on tomorrow."

"Excuse me, what about the issue that may be at hand at the moment?"

"It will be days until the next booking is made, so I guess they can go to the Austin music festival if they wanted to" Shawn replied.

Shawn was right. It was only after two days that they travelled the long road to confront Scorpio. May spent her days in Austin walking around with Shawn and Angela getting to know them more and eventually being good friends Of course, she brought Andre along without his permission. Mark spent most of his times in the park either practicing his swords or surprisingly, reading a book. Adrian and Claire watched a movie together in the theatre and then went onto check into the city to see if anything exciting was happening. Lisa, spent all day in the hotel room sitting on the bed. Lisa, although very much the leader of the ensemble spent much of her time alone, not really associating much with them. Occasionally she would crack the rare joke or laugh at something that wasn't sensible, but she was very serious most often. Most of the time the others thought she might have been planning strategies for each beast or observing the ancient glyphs that they collected previously from when they picked up Claire or Adrian. But it still lingered in their minds. Lucy and Socrates abruptly barged in the hotel room one night drunk and dizzy. They eventually woke everybody up, constantly being yelled by the group (except from Adrian and Claire. Adrian urged Claire not to go outside for her "well-being"). Lisa was frustrated with these events and by the next morning Lucy and Socrates fell ill and slept peacefully through the morning till the afternoon.

On the second day, Lisa went out of the hotel room very early in the morning to sneak into the store where the tours were being organized. She sneaked in, with her gun to make sure of her safety and concealed herself in dark clothes. As she checked the database, on the computers and the manual log on the counter tables, she saw an interesting black mark penned on the signature at every time the driver "Jude Barker" drove the bus. It was a darkly inked magic circle. Lisa gasped, when she checked that nearly all the months posted after Shawn's incident had this peculiar magic circle mark on the paper. "Husband and Associates" date: 17th February 2007. Passengers: Government Land Surveyors: Graham Jones, Wyatt Richards, Ryan Parker, Loretta Day and Robert Lane. Other passengers: Shawn Lane, Angela "Margaret" Lane, Darren Peters, Sophie Henderssen and Albert Whitaker under the care of Nurse: Penelope Elliot." The log read. Adjacent to the reception counter was a photocopier and Lisa used it to copy all the logs out and walked ran out the doors of the touring store.

As the bus travelled along the desert, the group suddenly realized that sandstorms were happening in one area. The driver headed towards the sandstorms. Lisa then going towards the driver and yelled, "Do you want to get us killed?" even though she wanted this to happen in order to confront Scorpio. "What's happening?" Shawn Lane was in the bus. Why is he driving into the sandstorms?" The doors to the bus then opened, "Enjoy your stay in the desert." The driver said, his voice almost zombie-like. The bus driver turned then lay there dead cold. Lisa inspected his badge until it came across his name… "Jude Barker."

"Shawn! Isn't this the bus driver on the day of the incident?" Shawn ran towards Lisa until she let out a bit gasp. "Oh my goodness… But how?"

The sandstorms stopped. Shawn then looked outside the window, "This is exactly what happened on the day." She then crawled in into an empty space and screamed. Her daughter also being a witness to her mothers screams. She held onto the same balloon she had 3 days previously. "Why did we listen to them when they said they wanted to come along. What a burden." Mark said, jumping of the bus and running to the distance. "That idiot! You're going to get yourself killed!" May yelled out, forming her angel wings again and flying out to chase him. "May. May!" Andre cried, then chasing her out. "This is not the way it's supposed to turn out! They are at great danger. Why aren't they sticking to the plan?" Lisa growled, walking out of the bus and getting out her alchemy gun. Lucy crouched down and held Shawn. "Don't worry, things are going to be okay." Lucy promised Shawn. She then ran out of the bus, in her high-heeled boots and taking out her large bladed fan out of her handbag. "It's a mystery isn't it" she looked towards the distance, pretending as if this was televised. It was only Socrates, Angela, Shawn, Adrian and Claire on the bus. "We better head out there Claire, to help them." Adrian stated. Claire nodded her head. "Right!" Claire then turned back, "What about them?" Socrates rose up and jumped on the top of a passenger seat to be seen. "Don't worry I can handle it!"

Then both Claire and Adrian ran out the bus, placing their trust in Socrates to protect both Angela and Shawn. As they ran, Claire could just see the bus getting smaller and smaller. But in the distance a screamed resonated in the desert. The group gasped, realizing that the scorpion that zombie like creatures was approaching the bus, while dog-sized scorpions appeared out of the sands. The scorpions then approached the group, readying their stingers. Mark sliced them open with his sword. Lucy's fans acted as boomerangs, as she threw the bladed fans and expecting them to return. Lisa shot them with her alchemy gun, rock like projectiles acted as bullets. Adrian creates magical spheres and beams that flew striking them. Andre used his fists and punched them into tiny pieces, while May flew high up in the sky striking them at a distance with her ice arrows, impaling the zombies to their death.

May looked at the direction of the bus and suddenly noticed quicksand occurring near the bus. She then flew closer to the direction only to notice a very large stinger that idly lied at the top of the anomaly. "Oh no" was what she thought.


	16. Chapter 16: Battle In The Desert

May called the group to head towards the bus

May called the group to head towards the bus. "There's a large stinger that's lingering near the bus!" she shouted. Lisa gasped and then gestured the group to the bus, still with a gun in her hand. The quicksand grew larger, and more of the tail emerged from the phenomenon. Lucy climbed a nearby rock and peered into the distance. "It's definitely a scorpion tail! It's near the tour bus and it's huge!"

"Oh no! Shawn, Angela and Socrates are in trouble." Claire pointed out, overly concerned and panicking. "We have to get there quickly to save them!" Andre said, directing them towards the bus. But as soon as the group could get close to the bus, more large scorpions emerged from the sands charging towards their direction. "Not again!" May yelled out. Mark ran towards the scorpions and cut them into two in a few seconds. The scorpion numbers grew to numerous amounts, but Mark had no trouble defeating them with his skilled swordplay. "Let me give you a hand boy!" Andre signalled and supported by giving the scorpions a devastating punch that shattered them into pieces. "I don't even need your help, you're wasting your time." Mark said, unemotionally. "Times like these, you can't always play hero or be alone you'll seriously get hurt. You may think you don't need help, but I'm here to make the burden easier."

Mark let out a small grin and then nodded his head. "Alright then." He then looked towards the group that stood there witnessing his and Andre's fight against the many scorpions that appeared. "What are you doing just standing there?" he yelled. "Andre and I can take of these measly scorpions, but you have to get to the bus to protect them!"

The group nodded their heads. "Right!"

As soon as the group reached near the bus, they had realized that the bus doors were closed and the Shawn, Angela and Socrates could not escape. Gradually, the giant scorpion emerged from the quicksand. The group, gaping in amazement of how large the scorpion really was. Scorpions emerging from all four different sides suddenly surrounded Mark and Andre, Mark then groaned. "There are too many." Andre laughed very loudly. "Can't handle it anymore?" he challenged Mark. The boy then grinned, "Lets see in the end who's going to still be able to stand tall." They both then continued their spree, crushing or slicing the scorpions that dared to stand in their way.

Angela banged on the windows crying for a way out, but there was no way. Magic that Lucy or Adrian tried to use couldn't penetrate through the bus windows, let alone touch it. It wasn't until Lisa saw Socrates then she figured that he was creating a barrier of protection for them if the Scorpio was to ever approach them. Socrates' paws were clenched together and a small blue magic circle was under him, glowing. Angela and Shawn then realized this, pondering what ever was the peculiar talking cat doing.

Claire's amulet soon then shone a bright light as she moved closer to the large scorpion tail, automatically turning itself into the wand. Lisa observed and then nodded her head. "This is definitely the notorious Death Scorpion of the Gusting Sands: Scorpio that was prophesised in the Ancient Astral Tablets."

"Death Scorpion of the Gusting Winds? Ancient Astral Tablets?" Claire wondered. "That's right, but no time for that, Scorpio's body is almost emerging from the sands, and we have to strike at its lethal areas. That means the tail, claws and legs. They are the most harmful parts."

Adrian then knocked on the windows of the bus, trying to give them a message. "What on Earth do you think you are doing Adrian?" Lisa shouted out. Adrian ignored her and yelled at the people inside the bus. "Try to drive the bus out of this area! It's too dangerous for you to stay here."

Shawn nodded her head, "Okay. Here goes anything!" The woman then walked herself in the passenger seat pushing Jude Barkers corpse on the floor, and then strangely disappearing off the bus. She took the steering wheel and attempted to drive the bus out of the area, fortunately it was a success. The bus then drove away from the scorpion's territory, though suddenly it would have appeared that Scorpion jumped out of the quicksand and chased the bus. Lisa aimed her gun at the tail. "Fire!!" she yelled out, shooting bullet like explosives on the tail. The scorpion then stopped, turning itself to face the group, it's tail weary from its attacking stance swayed side to side uncontrollably.

"Great Lisa, you lured it to our side, it's going to start chasing us now!" May yelled. "Oh no… I expected the tail to detach because of the explosions. Its thick armour is stronger than I thought. I underestimated it." Lisa then ran from the Scorpion, which now was angrily clipping its claws and threatened the group by attempting to strike with its tail. "Everybody, run!" Lisa cried, attempting to shoot the beast and run at the same time. As everybody ran, Lucy stood there with a strong stance, she was adamant to not run. "Lucy what are you doing?" Lisa screamed, concerned for her. "Don't disturb me. I've only got once chance on this and I'm going to take it." Lucy got out a small potions glass and threw it towards the scorpion. As the potions glass broke, a large area of dark mist surrounded the Scorpion blinding it. The group watched in amazement, "Good Work Lucy!" Adrian congratulate, Lucy was smiling. "I'm not that useless after all!" she looked towards both Lisa and Claire, who were skeptical of her. Despite being blind, the scorpion charged towards the group swaying its claws and crushing anything that was to stand in its way. "Here it comes! Everyone split up and either take one side!" Adrian and Claire took the right side, while Lisa and Lucy took the left side. May, still flying with her angel wings hovered above the beast, aiming her icy arrows by three.

"Adrian, you take the limbs on the right side of the Scorpio. Lucy and I will take the left. May, try to stun Scorpio with your arrows!" Lisa ordered. The group nodded their head to Lisa's orders. Claire being the only one not knowing what to do, as she wasn't given an order. Adrian saw Claire's discontent, being unable to do anything to help. "Claire, do whatever you can that you'd think that would help. You aren't useless. Don't ever think that." Claire weakly nodded her head, still disappointed.

Lisa constantly shot the beast with her explosive bullets, eventually leading to a few of the limbs crackling and detaching off the beast. Scorpio led a few cries and swayed its claws rapidly, hoping it struck the perpetrators. Lucy on the other hand threw potions that emitted green mists that poisoned the beast. Adrian on the other hand struck the beast with beams of fire coming from his hands, the flames eventually burning the beast's limbs off. Eventually, the only thing left that was harmful to the group was its claws and its tail. The scorpion raised it's claws up in the air, creating gusty winds across it's face to get rid of the dark mist Lucy previously put upon it. "Oh no! The darkening mist I created is now gone!" Lucy screamed. The scorpion tilted on the right, and it's tail then headed towards Adrian's direction. "No!" Claire screamed out, a red fiery glow surrounding her. She developed bat-like wings of fire and held her wand to the air. A red circle surrounding her, long strands of fire from the circle joined the wand, creating a large ball of flame. Adrian looked in fear as the tail headed towards his direction. Claire directed the wand upon the scorpion and as she did, long thick strands on fire wrapped itself around the scorpion and Claire used these strands like rope, pulling the scorpion away from Adrian. Anger could be seen in Claire's eyes as if she wasn't Claire anymore, but someone dangerously aggressive. "COME ON THEN! ATTACK THE DAMN SCORPION. WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING JUST STANDING THERE" she yelled in insurmountable fury, the flame strands of from the wand becoming larger and more incensed, the scorpion subjected to so much pain could not restrain itself from it's misery, noising out constant moans that could be heard miles away. Adrian looked towards Claire, not seeing Claire anymore. Instead, she was like a powerful monster of her own with uncontrollable hostility and violent behaviours. Claire pulled the scorpion with her might, until the scorpion could not bear to stand no more, collapsing onto the ground. The fiery glow that surrounded Claire disappeared and Claire too fell down to the hot sands of the Chuhuahuan desert.

Adrian rushed towards Claire, holding her in his arms. Shaking her to see any signs of life. However it seemed that she refused to open her eyes, the power she released being too much for her to handle.


	17. Chapter 17: Deadly Secrecy

Checkered tiles were apparent in this new room that Claire had never been to before

Checkered tiles were apparent in this new room that Claire had never been to before. At the windows, she could see the winds blowing jet-black yet transparent curtains around ferociously. A harp lay on a black tile, much larger compared to any other tile inside the room. A cupboard with that looked as if an antique stood tall on the far opposite side of the door from where Claire entered. She headed towards the cupboard and saw a globe of the world map. It had pin-marks as if to depict where their journey will go to next. _Mexico _was the marked with a red pin and depicted on it, Claire could see a sketch of a small child dying from the hands of a girl, with a rod that had a magical stick with the symbol of a star. "Wait…" Claire thought. "That stick looks like the Astral Wand… But I didn't kill anyone…" The harp then played an eerie tune all by itself and the shadows of the room grew larger as the light from outside started to fade into a blue light, similar to the one in the nightmares she used to have. She then finally realized a large mirror standing in the middle of the room. "It wasn't there before…" she said to herself. "Where did it come from?" The room became more colder, Claire shivered and young woman's wail could be heard, and then a thud on the floor. The young girl closed her eyes in fear; she was terrified and confused on what was happening. As she opened them, hoping the nightmare would end, she felt something in her arms and as she saw, she screamed in horror. It was Lucy's body that she held, her eyes opened, her face not moving. Her whole body numb like the cold and dark atmosphere of the room. Claire could feel her heart beat, louder and rapid than ever before. She looked at her hands stained with blood and with the arm that held Lucy's body, that hand grasping a small jagged dagger depicting a star on the tip of the handle, similar to the Astral Amulet. Claire's breath started to appear as mist, the room got much colder and darker than before. Lucy dropped the body of Lucy and then looked at the mirror, sobbing. "I couldn't have done this. I couldn't have!" she murmured to herself, faster and faster. The mirror then released a little bit of light, and transported her to a place where the scenarios were like olden day film. It was a flashback, where she witnessed herself murdering Lucy with the jagged knife. She rolled her body up with the black blankets and hid her under the bed. The only thing Claire could only focus on was herself stabbing Lucy numerous of times. The screams, the struggle and then eventually the death echoed and lingered in Claire's mind, she was traumatized. Was she capable of such an act? And why would she murder Lucy?

A knock could be heard on the door, the noise even echoing more than Lucy's screams. She saw herself pushing the body further under the bed, hopefully being undetected. The flashback version of her stood on the black tile where blood could be seen and put her arms behind her, also stained with blood. "Come in" she said, with a jovial tone.

It was Adrian that was behind the door, he smiled at Claire, "This is such a big room, it's almost like a castle because of the stone walls, and you wouldn't be able to hear a thing from the other rooms."

"Well it actually is a castle. I heard this place was haunted though, I wonder why we are staying here?"

Adrian laughed. "Lisa wants to do some zany research. Besides, she thought that the place being haunted, it was going for a cheap rent. We can't be too extravagant in our travels I suppose, not with Socrates being here anymore making money with his magic."

"Yes, it's strange how he just disappeared. I wonder where he is."

"He was such a great friend… For a cat." Adrian joked. "Well, I leave you to it, you better get some rest. I heard we are going to England, apparently Pisces can be found there creating havoc with the beaches and fishermen. Good night Claire." He said, walking towards her hugging the small girl. "I'm glad we had this journey together."  
Adrian then walked towards the door and opened it, until he turned his head back. "Have you seen Lucy by any chance Claire? It seems like she's disappeared too and you can hardly miss her anywhere."  
Claire looked towards the mirror that was placed in the middle of the room. "No, I haven't seen her at all either."

Adrian grew more curious over the disappearances of his friends. "First Socrates, then Lucy. I wonder what's going on…" Adrian then exited outside the door, with his index finger on his chin. The flashback Claire then looked back towards the real Claire and approached her. "Don't you dare ever tell him about this." She warned the present Claire.

"W-what, you can see me?"

"Of course I can see you, you're the future. And don't panic, you should see what happens next." She said with a menacing smile.

The surroundings of the room and Claire's vision started to fade. Claire then opened her eyes only to see the bodies of Socrates, Lucy and Adrian lying on the floor with stab wounds and dead in front of her. She then faced the mirror and called out to it. "Why is this happening? What did you do to them?"  
The flashback Claire appeared in the reflection, behind Claire and reaching for her shoulder. She could feel a cold touch, almost as if the hand were ice. Claire then slowly, her hands shaking tried to reach for her shoulder to see if there was a hand there. When she finally reached her shoulder, there was nothing there, but the chills lingered. "Don't worry Claire, there's nothing left to hide anymore. You know that it was going to happen anyway. You were just hiding in denial over this secrecy for so long."

"No! I wouldn't even imagine killing my friends or Adrian. I would never do such a thing."

The reflection laughed, mocking her. "You'll just have to wait and see don't you? You're a natural at keeping secrets Claire, but confronting the truth really isn't your specialty. Never-mind, the time will come when you'll get to grasp a sense of truth and reality. Besides, it's all happening while you sleep. You just don't appreciate your dreams as much as your guardian tells you to."

Claire gasped. "Go away! All of this is nonsense. Just stay out of my life" she screamed. Her reflection laughed again, this time her laughs echoed inside her mind, tormenting her. Claire then turned the mirror and dropped it on the floor, shattering the mirror. Her reflection was gone, but the voice wasn't. "Oh, you know what they say Claire. Break a mirror and it's bad luck but never mind, the mirror can always be repaired, with a special replacement of someone special to you."

The mirror and its scattered remains disappeared; only to appear in its place was a small girl's body, wounded by multiple stab wounds in the torso. It was Kristen, and what appeared in Claire's hand was the Star tipped knife that killed her friends Socrates, Lucy and her guardian Adrian. And present on the blade itself, still dripping was the blood of her sister. "Stop it! Stop this now! I can't stand this anymore!"

"Don't worry, your sister Kristen is still alive with the Witch of the Shadows. But… lets just say not in the same sense."

Claire fell to the floor, seeing the blood spilt on the checkered floors and the corpses of the people she had came to love in the times of their journey.

"Why? Why…?" Claire said. "Why would I do such a thing?"

"Probably the resentment that these people haven't lost anything, haven't been neglected for so long like you. Haven't lost something special. These are very happy people with not much to cry about in this world. You on the other hand, have been neglected by your parents, haven't come to terms with your sister's appearance and is facing the truth of the only person that truly loves you is dying from a curse. You fear that Socrates' good intentions will eventually deceive you. Being too attached to Adrian will only leave your heart to break, but before that Lucy threatens your state of relationship with Adrian and you think she'll take him away from you" Claire from the flashback appeared once more, smiling and looking over the dead corpses.

"Now be a good girl and let me handle the rest." The flashback said, holding the jagged star tipped knife.  
"No. No!" Claire shouted, but it was too late.


	18. Chapter 18: The New Road

The sands of the desert blew fiercely during their confrontation with Scorpio, but somehow it felt a mystery as it died down w

The sands of the desert blew fiercely during their confrontation with Scorpio, but somehow it felt a mystery as it died down when they defeated the beast. The raging winds left little sand in Claire's mouth. As she regained consciousness, the immediately spat it out and then opening her eyes to see for her to see Adrian's happy grin to see her awake. "That's my girl! Spit all the crap that anything gives you." He said, patting her on the back.

"Is she okay? Claire, speak to us. Please tell us that you're okay!" Lucy said, rushing towards Claire. "I'm okay Lucy," the little girl said in a weary tone. Lucy then rushed around, twirling around and tripping herself with her shoes. "Don't worry, I'm okay!" she said clumsily. "We should take her inside the bus immediately, she sounds tired." Andre exclaimed. "We shouldn't leave her out here with these harsh conditions!"

"Just as soon as she gets Scorpio's power in the Astral Amulet, may she rest in the bus." Lisa said unsympathetically.

"What? Lisa how could you say that! She's been working very hard, she's worn out and she needs to rest!" Lucy yelled.

Lisa scoffed, "Lucy, are you telling me this journey was only meant for her to be resting all the time? We are here to capture the Astral Beasts and keep them contained in the amulet so they don't wreck havoc upon the world. This is dangerous and if Claire…" she paused, attempting to calm down from her angry tone. "If Claire makes a habit of being such a burden present in our journey then many are going to get killed, by her own apathetic expense!"

Lucy stamped her feet and clenched her fists in fury. "But we can't treat her like this! She's just a young girl."  
Adrian stood up from crouching down to hold Claire. "This has nothing to do with the people does it?" Adrian said quietly, however Lisa took notice on what was said. "Adrian, enough with your petty nonsense."

"Me petty? You should take a look at yourself in the mirror, there's real pettiness in you. Every little concern that you say you have for the 'world' is all just a bunch of lies. You just want Claire to suffer don't you? Well I'm not going to make her suffer, just for your expense. Just because you feel the need to watch others in suffering to make yourself feel better about your loss."  
"That isn't even remotely true. Keep your mouth shut if rubbish like that is all you have to claim!" Lisa then stood back and waited beside the road, walking away from the group.

"Now don't you dare walk away from me Lisa, you have an evil heart. You aren't the Lisa I knew before."

Lisa shook her head and raised her spectacles. "I suppose you thought you knew me, but every single time you've painted me the wrong way." She turned herself to face the group and started pointing at Adrian in particular. "You! You're the problem. It's just all about you isn't it? You weren't there on her final days of succumbing to the curse that the blasted sorceress put on her. You wouldn't understand how it felt to lose someone that you loved. Someone so close to you."

Lucy was aggravated at the remark. "So you just want Claire here to die to make Adrian suffer? What kind of cold-hearted bitch are you?"

"Lucy don't you get yourself into this! This is problem is mine and Adrian's!"

"It isn't anybody's apart from your own. I'm sick and tired of this Lisa, sick and tired of your immaturity. Adrian doesn't only think it's about himself. It's just about you Lisa, you not being able to cope with Diane's death. I found it hard to cope. Everybody did. It was all so sudden nobody could believe it. Diane was a pioneering soul; she soldiered on even though her body deteriorating from the curse that came with the fate bounded power. But she wouldn't want you to act like this. She genuinely cared for the world, that's why she dismissed her own needs for the world and died a happy woman knowing that even through all the obstacles… She did what she thought was right."

Lisa breathed heavily realizing Lucy's compassionate elegy towards her sister who had passed away for so long. Though she could not accept being defeated, but experienced a trouble to speak. "You'd… You would never understand the pain of my position. Loss is such a hard obstacle to overcome."

Lucy raised her hand to the air, eventually slipping on a rock. "Ugh" she grunted, though she pursued to carry on, despite ruining her dignity. "Don't you dare ever accused of me or anybody else of not 'losing' anything! You wouldn't even know! Everybody has fallen on hard times, but we eventually pick ourselves up." Lucy then looked over to Claire and Adrian. "So would you mind cutting Claire and Adrian some slack? You've been tough on them and this journey has been tough on all of us. We need to be positive! We're saving the world not because to prove something, but because it really needs our help and needs to be saved."

Andre then started to applaud Lucy, wiping tears off his eyes. "That woman has class!" he yelled out. May descending from the sky landed towards Andre and kicked him in the shin. "You ruined that moment you idiot! But I have to admit, it's the first time I've seen Lucy be so… Emotionally involved rather than her ditzy and clumsy self."

"Somebody's got to tell her to buy new shoes for whenever she's going to pull one of those speeches. I mean did you see that fall?" Andre stated.

"Not me!" May and Adrian yelled out. Lucy then giggled to herself. "Well come on guys, let's look out for the bus. Socrates and Shawn should be returning with the bus soon!"

Andre and May followed her, "Wait for my Lucy!" they both yelled out.

"So you might be needing that rest…" Lisa said, refusing to speak caringly towards Adrian and Claire. She spoke in a cold tone that was easily noticed. Claire looked towards Scorpio's large carcass and then looked at her amulet. She then got herself up and activated it into the wand. "I can handle it, don't worry."

She then walked towards the remains and started to chant the containing incantation, which was written by her to implore thinking it would add an extra effect.

Lisa then put one arm forward gesturing for her to come back. "No you don't have to…" she said with slight concern. Adrian followed Claire, passing Lisa with a glare. He then stopped only to say something. "Finally having a sense of heart? Don't worry, she's not missing out because of your self-centredness."

He then caught up to Claire, smiling towards her. "You really do have such a strong heart." He thought to himself, about Claire. "You ready for this?" he said. "Of course I am!" she cheerfully said, conforming to the dynamic that was given to her by her guardian.

"Scorpio, the death scorpion of the deserts. Let your hidden art of ambush be an aid towards our journey… Give us--"

"Wait! Wait!" Lucy came rushing towards them. "I forgot I needed to do something!" Lucy then grabbed hold onto something that was in her pockets. "You big stunning scorpion! Say cheese!" A large white flash then appeared, and appeared 3 more times blinding Claire and Adrian in those instances. "A camera? You think these Astral Beast pictures will do for souvenirs?" Adrian said in distress.

"Never you mind what I do with them! Okay Claire, it's time for you to do your work! I'll record it with this camera and we can all watch it over from the bus okay?"

Claire shrieked in fear. "Okay… ahem. Scorpio, the death scorpion of the deserts, let your hidden art of ambush be an aid towards our journey… Please lend me your power! Scorpio… Contain!"

The large scorpion then turned into a large sphere of white light, the wand syphoning its force. Claire redeemed herself, staying absolutely calm and constantly taking hold of the wand with valour and strength. "That's beautiful…" Lucy said in awe. "It is… It really is." Adrian said, replying to her comment. Strong winds gusted and the desert was swept with a strong cool breeze, despite the sun radiating down upon them.

"Wow, that's cool" Andre said, watching from afar. May was dazzled and yet confused by Andre's comment. "In what way?"

"What do you mean what way?" May then laughed to herself. "Never mind."

Lisa stared into the distance. "I've seen it all before…" she peered standing in the middle of the road watching for the tour bus to return. "At last, they have come!" she said, seeing the bus.

Claire then felt proud of herself, for being able to receive and contain the power of Scorpio in the astral wand. A dark blue aura surrounded her this time, cooling her from the heat of the desert. Yet this time, she didn't show her pride. She remained cool and collected, yet was unable to restrain herself for a smile. "That's my girl! I'm so proud of you." Adrian said, collecting her and kissing her on the forehead. He cuddled her in happiness and joy, yet Claire than noticed remnants of the dark shadows that possessed him before when he stared into his eyes. "What's wrong Claire?"

She shrugged her shoulders and wiped off the thought. "Nothing, absolutely everything is fine."

"Of course it is. It's all because of you!"

Flashbacks in Claire's memory started to appear. The mirror, the dark room and then Adrian's corpse appeared in flashes.

"The bus is here!" May yelled out, waving towards the three.

"Finally, Socrates has come to his senses!" Adrian said in delight of the events.

The bus doors opened, a sense of relief was wavering in the air for the travellers. "All aboard to the city of Austin, Texas?" Shawn said, with a welcoming smile.

"Finally, we were waiting out here for ages with our skins practically barbequed from the sun!" Andre complained. May kicked him in the shins again. "Come on, be a man!"  
"Well the bus is fully air-conditioned so let's set make this long bus trip a good one!"

Mark then appeared with Lisa from the distance, apparently wounded. "What's up with him?" May asked.

"He grew a little weary from our little challenge, but don't worry he isn't infected with poison. He'll be alright!" Andre said proudly. "You have to think, for a little boy he held his own pretty well against those scorpions."

As the last two reached the bus, the burden of the journey was finally lifted by much needed air-conditioner.

Claire then took a seat, resting her eyes tired from the containing process. But Lucy intersected and sat beside her. Staring at her up-close. "Please Lucy, you are probably going to scare her by doing that." Socrates said, with a complaint in his voice.

"I don't see why you should be instructing, besides why didn't you come any earlier. It was real hot outside!"

Socrates grunted and refused to reply back. "Exactly!" Lucy said, giggling to herself. "Anyways, it's a bit strange to ask you… But what were you dreaming about when you fell unconscious?"  
Claire looked to herself, her memories of the dream scattered and flashing constantly in her head. Echoes of the cries heard and the tormenting voice that had been her own was still present in her mind.

"Why?"

Lucy laughed. "Oh it's nothing. But on a serious note, you were saying a lot of no's in your dream. We heard you shouting no constantly and I was just a teeny-bit concerned!"

"It wasn't anything. Actually I haven't even noticed anything about that at all!"

"Okay… I was just curious! That's all" she said in a light-hearted tone, though inside she knew that something was wrong.

"So we're heading back to Austin, Texas? What are your plans to do now Shawn?" Adrian asked.

"Oh I don't want to say, it's a little boring compared to your journey battling out Astrological beasts that have come alive!"

Adrian then looked towards Socrates, grinning while trying to have a serious face. "Don't worry, he told me about it."

"Anyways what I was planning to do was contact the people of closest to those that died on the crash and give them consolation towards their loved ones. I'm going to do my best doing good for others like you people are doing for the world." Adrian grinned. "Well good luck then! Wish you all the best."

"You too!"

Many days passed until they finally had to part their ways saying goodbye. As soon as the bus doors were about to close from Socrates, now being in charge of the bus, Lucy gestured for him to stop and called out to Shawn. "Shawn! Shawn! I just wanted you to have this." Lucy handed over photographs of the large scorpion towards her. "But… How did you get this? And why? It must have been dangerous!"

Lucy shook her head and grinned. "I'm sick and tired of everyone ridiculing you. With this photographs there is evidence and it might help you on your journey to give closure to those people related to those that died on the crash."

Shawn looked in awe at Lucy, eventually hugging her with tears down her eyes. "Thank you Lucy, I'm glad that there are people in this world that believe in me and are willing to listen."

"Don't worry, there are always people willing to listen. You just need to raise your voice and be noticed and never doubt yourself!" Lucy cheered.

Lucy then approached Angela and smiled. "And I can see a bright future ahead of you too!"

Angela then smiled, accidentally letting go of her balloon. The little girl then watched it fly high into the sky higher than the skyscrapers. "Oh no, she loves that balloon! I'm sorry, I really am!"

The little girl then started to cry, Lucy looked to the bus gesturing for Adrian to help her out. Adrian came running out of the bus and crouching down to reach for something in his pocket. "What's this Angela, look to wear the coin is going!" he then handed the coin to her mother, Angela being mesmerized couldn't take her view from the coin.

Adrian then quickly blew out a balloon and tied the bottom piece up. Then gesturing towards Lucy to give him a piece of string. Lucy scrounged through her pockets, struggling until she found one. Adrian then tied and knotted the string up with the balloon. "Look here now Angela"  
The little girl then looked towards the man, holding a red balloon like the one she accidentally lost by letting go. Adrian then lent it to the little girl, excited for her balloon. As soon as she touched the string, the balloon changed from red to yellow like magic.

"Hope you like it Angela." He said, charming her with his smile. He lightly tapped her nose with the index finger. "Magic does exist, but don't tell anyone." He then got up and shook hands with Shawn, "I guess this is our goodbye then."  
"It's never like in the movies. I expected the heart-tugging strings to be heard by now."

"We could always stay for one more day in the Austin Music Festival." Lucy gestured. Shawn laughed, "You've got to save the world Lucy, remember that!"

"Oh… That's right." Lucy looked in disappointment.

Shawn and Angela departed the two, contented and smiling. "Thank you." Angela said when she and her mother left the travelling ensemble. She never let go of the balloon and held onto it tighter than the previous one.

"They were such a nice bunch of people. I'm really proud of Shawn." Lucy said content and skipping towards the bus. "Yeah… they were really great people." Adrian muttered to himself. Claire smiled upon her guardian. His kindness and thoughtfulness made her happy and proud. She ran towards him as he boarded the bus and gently hugged him. "I'm proud of what you did back there…" she kept to herself. "Wow what's all of this about?"

"Nothing…" she said cheekily.

Lisa went towards Socrates, who was driving the bus. "So we are planning to keep this tour bus?"

"Yeah of course, saves travelling expenses for the airplane."  
"You won me with that." Lisa joked.

"One question though, we are we heading?" Socrates asked. He looked to Lisa to find an answer. She shrugged her shoulders. Socrates panicked and looked towards the others. The rest shrugging their shoulders with not a clue on where to go, he then gave up. "Lisa, you have those weird artefacts, are you sure you have not a clue?"

"No… I should have prepared before hand. It just seemed natural to know the whereabouts of Aries and Scorpio… the other astral plaques are vague."

Claire jumped off from her seat. "Lets go to Mexico."

"Mexico?" everybody thought. "In a dream, I dreamed about us going to Mexico. Apparently a rather large bull could be found there."  
"A large bull… Taurus?" Lisa wondered.

"Right! And I think it's in Mexico."

"Well any objections to destination Mexico?" Socrates announced. A brief silence fell upon the group. "Mexico it is!"

They were making their way into foreign territory and the new road they were taking was only a hunch, but Claire seemed confident that something was indeed there.


	19. Chapter 19: Walking On Air

Many days were spent in the new tour bus, it felt like the caravan bus all over again

Many days were spent in the new tour bus, it felt like the caravan bus all over again. Claire easily noticing that the deserts that bordered around Mexico and Texas were so much more different then the snowy forests of the Canadian village she used to reside in with her guardian. She leaned her head on the window, feeling the rattling and vibrations on her head. It hurt for a while but she then was adapted to it soon after. She thought of herself being deep in thought and giving off a poetic impression. She saw Lisa sitting on a seat, putting her feet on top of another seat resting with a book in her hand and her eyes swiftly moving from side to side on the pages. _Alchemy for Dummies by Brian Forrester _was what the book was called. Claire then took her head off the glass windows and faced towards Lisa with a lazy manner, tired from the battle she had just experienced. "Who's Br--,"

"It's amazing, facing two of the most aggressive Astral Beasts and still you're alive." Lisa said, turning the pages of her book whilst not facing Claire. "I guess defeating Aries really did give you a more fierce personality in battle."

"A more fierce personality?" Claire asked.

Lisa closed her book, and looked towards Claire with a mean streak on her face. "You aren't always going to ask questions when you don't really need to right? When Diane… I mean my sister took her responsibility… her fate on being the one to save the world… She changed after capturing the beasts. However they were different, the beasts she faced were based on mythological beasts and Gods even. She carried the Lunar Wand, the power of the moon and even in the darkest circumstances, she shined bright."

Claire opened her mouth, about to talk, but refrained. She then looked towards the windows, where the sky soon turned a dark blue. Clouds moving in and the desert seemed quite different. Andre yawning went to the back of the bus to sleep, as only all of the back seats were enough to support him. Socrates looked behind him as he was driving the bus, seeing all the passengers tired from their trip. "We take a break here. Everyone have a good nights rest. Tomorrow is going to be busy."

He then turned the bus out of the road and into the dirt and sands of the deserts to stop at a far distance behind a large rock.

"Good Night everyone" Socrates said, turning out the lights and closing the doors. "Good night Socrates!" May said in a sweet tone. "Good night Socrates and to everyone else on the bus" Lucy giggled in delight. "Mexico sounds like fun!"

Lisa leaned her head on the window, closing her eyes and taking her spectacles off saying not a word but drifting herself to sleep. Claire looked around, but neither Adrian nor Mark could be found, until she looked above the bus where an opening was found and she heard sounds of footsteps on top of the bus.

Claire then rose activated her wand quietly, trying to cover the orb of light that usually came with the activation process and rose her wand towards the opening, eventually levitating herself as she was too short to climb towards it.

As she got to the top, she saw Mark looking down with his sword in hand. "Funny how you tried to conceal your presence, however you were just too obvious." Mark said with a mocking laugh, then jumping off the bus.

"But where are you… going?" Claire cried. Adrian sitting laughed to himself. "Don't worry Claire, he's only practicing his sword skills."

"Adrian, but what are you doing out? Aren't you going to get some sleep?" Claire wondered. "No, I like the night. Seeing all the stars in the sky. It's more beautiful then the day." He then stared at Claire, still holding her wand and standing.

"Armed? Well I can tell you there's no more dangerous scorpions in the desert anymore."

Claire looked to her wand, and then looked to Adrian. "This isn't what it looks like!"

Adrian laughed to himself. "That's magic for you. Makes you reach for places that no magic can't reach."

Claire then took a seat on the bus top and looked down at her wand, remembering the things that Lisa said before hand.

"Adrian… Did the journey that you have before hand… Did that change Lisa's sister?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"Lisa told me that whenever she contained the beasts in her amulet, she changed. Into someone different."

Adrian was silent for a few seconds looking at the stars and then looking towards Claire. "Diane never changed, she was always the Diane that we loved. The friend who'd always look out for everyone and cared about everyone. How could she… her own sister think of something like that?" Adrian then looked to himself and then blankly stared at the horizon. Claire wasn't convinced. "I don't want to change though!" she said, putting on a tantrum. Adrian looked to Claire. "You aren't going to change. Don't listen to Lisa even for a second." He then raised his hand and covered his face in disbelief. Claire watched him as his skin tone darkened like a light shadow covering over him. It was a full moon while the clouds were apparent, but only so slightly.

"I don't want anything to happen to you Adrian…" Claire sobbed.  
"Nothing's going to happen to me, Claire. What makes you think that?"

"It's because…" she wiped her eyes. "Of that curse that woman put on you. I know what she's capable of. Haunting my dreams every night. I don't even want to go to sleep anymore. And I know what's she capable of. She's powerful Adrian and I just hope… whatever happens, you'd be standing there watching me proudly as we save the world and save my sister Kristen as well."

Adrian then gestured Claire to come closer to him, only to hug her tightly keeping her warm from the chilly breeze of the night saying not a word, but keeping her close.

Mark jumped up on top of the bus and looked at the two. "I'm going to sleep, you close the thing after your done with this."

Claire was worried about the times to come. More and more, she knew that as time went by, her guardian was slipping away, but she kept him close. And didn't let go, as she refused to let him go. The stars were shining, watching the two holding on to what could be their last moments together. Claire saw the stars, seeing a flying spectre of Adrian almost walking on air. She then looked towards where Adrian had previously been and didn't see him there. She panicked, "Adrian… Adrian? Where are you?"

She then slowly opened her eyes, seeing herself inside the bus as it was moving. The sun was shined through the windows, everyone was wide-awake and Socrates took the wheel like he used to. Beside Claire was Adrian, apparently sleeping. She gazed at him sleeping and smiled, then tilting her head facing the window and leaning against it.


	20. Chapter 20: Stadium Theatrics

"Socrates

"Socrates! How dare you get us into trouble like this! We wouldn't be stuck in this mess if it weren't for you!" May yelled out, screaming at the cat frightened for his life. "May calm down for a minute, it's not entirely his fault that all this happened." Andre said, trying to calm the frustrated girl down. "Not entirely his fault? NOT entirely his FAULT? Are you kidding about this? The fact is that he's the one that put us into a situation like this. Seen like this publicly. I didn't want to suffer from this so soon." Socrates purred. "It's not like you've never been in one before, besides with your constant yelling they might give you the death sentence." May grew frustrated and picked up the cat and threatened him with a glare. "Say another word and I'll give you the death sentence!" she screamed out. She then yelled in a outburst of misery and frustration. "But we don't deserve to be in a Mexican jail in the first place! Ugh! I just want to get out of here!" she yelled, kicking the bars of the cell.

"Quiet down little girl. The guards will have a good reason giving you the death sentence." May was then furious and walked around the cell and then finally resting on her bed. "They'll need to give her one to just shut her up."

Socrates and Andre then began to laugh amongst themselves eventually getting louder as seconds passed. "Shut up!" May said, rolling herself on the opposite side facing the wall. "You can talk!" Socrates grinned, laughing much louder than before. "And loudly." Andre added on raising the volume. May then decided to ignore this and in despair put a pillow on top of her head and tried to deafen her ears to not hear their joy in offending her. "I hope they come to save us from this soon."

"Wow, it's going to be hard getting out of Mexico soon. Three of our group is in prison, our bus needs to be repaired and Claire's amulet has been flashing… Indicating that an Astral Beast is nearby." Lisa explained.

"Well let's make the most of it people!" Lucy said, in optimism. Lucy always seemed optimistic in times where most would fall into hopelessness. She wondered around visiting the city, constantly getting whistles and various men trying to chat her up. "I don't speak Mexican if you're wondering!" she'd always say when she tried to avoid the attention. But her cold shoulder routine only encouraged the men more to approach her. Adrian eventually ended up pretending to be her spouse to deter the attention she was getting away. Claire laughed in at the reactions of both the men and the pretend couple, but then felt a little envious when Lucy and Adrian got too close. As soon as they found an information centre, Lisa rushed to get a map of the city and was despaired. The details in the map were Spanish. "You should try reading the back." Mark said, he was leaning on a pole looking down. Lisa then thought of herself as pathetic as she realized the boy was right. "Maybe you should try concealing your presence. You look suspicious around the locals here. Especially carrying that sword"

"No one seems to have complained."

Lisa was annoyed at this statement, shaking her head. "We already have Socrates, Andre and May in jail because of a small mistake on their behalf, we don't need someone else making the same sort of problem."

"At least I wasn't stupid enough to think that those drugs were lollies." Lisa shrugged her shoulders. "You've got me there." Lucy and Adrian nodded their heads. Claire then agreed as well. It wasn't until a small boy bumped into her that she gained a bit of focus in this rather perilous wandering that the group was doing. "Oh I'm sorry. I was just in a hurry that's all." Claire was taken by surprise, from the contact and the little boy's manners. He must have been younger than her. "It's okay. Why are you in a hurry?"

"The event is going to start in the stadium? I'm sure you've heard of it. It's a popular event that most tourists and the town-folk go to! It's going to be amazing, you've got to come see it!"

"Bullfighting? Give me a rest, I'm out of here!" Mark grunted, walking off. Lisa following behind him, "I take no interest in people involving themselves in danger just for entertainment purposes. Unfortunately, a life is wasted just to thrill a crowd. I'll be off visiting historical monuments that may give us a clue to the whereabouts of the supposed Astral Beast that resides near here. Mark, you'll come with me! I heard dangerous monsters have been appearing near ruins around here. I may need your assistance."

"Better than just watching idiots waving a red flag." The boy dismissed these comments, but inside he was furious. "Who did they think they are talking about our national pride like that?" he thought, with anger inside. The two eventually walked off, leaving only Claire, Adrian and Lucy with the little boy. "Never mind them, I'd like to come along and see!" Lucy said, with enthusiasm. "Really? That doesn't really sound like you…" Adrian said, wondering about Lucy's change. "Well, after that ear-bashing that those two had. I'm pretty sure the boy wants us to be interested in what he's passionate about. You can read minds, judge for yourself."

Adrian looked towards the child and then finally realized what Lucy was talking about. Even without reading his mind, he could see his eyes watering. Like a dream shattered by those who didn't recognise how significant it really was. "Uh… yes. I want to go too." Adrian stuttered. Lucy smiled and then looked towards Claire, "I suppose you can be his little date then Claire? Hmm?"

Claire blushed, only to look at the little boy, who wasn't that, much younger than her. "Lucy! Don't say that."

"Well since Claire's decided, lets all go then. Shall we?"

News reporters rushed up towards the jail cells, trying to get a word out of the talking cat. The three were very confused at what was going on. Flashing lights, foreign languages and microphones all pointing towards Socrates. "What are all these news reporters doing here? Get out of here now!" May yelled out. Andre posed and showed off his muscles but Socrates then ran towards May meowing as if he were just a normal cat. Finally, an English speaker broke through the crowd. "Is it true that the cat you are holding can really speak in human language?" May then looked towards Socrates, shaking her head. "Don't you dare say a word." She whispered. "We are in enough trouble then it is, it will only get worse once you say a w--"

"Yes he sure can actually. He's actually quite articulate and quite knowledgeable as well" Andre boasted. May then shook her head with disbelief. "Are you insane? Why on EARTH did you tell them that Socrates could talk!"

"Socrates? So he can talk. All right this is already a report, John roll the camera. This is definitely going to earn me some credibility in the office!"

"No, this is a misunderstanding. The cat can't talk. It's just a cat we call Socrates that's all! Don't report this please don't" May begged the reporter. "There's no point lying to this pretty woman is there. She looks so dignified, like she can dig anything up…" Socrates said with cheek. "Oh my goodness, the cat did talk. Did you catch that footage John? Perfect! Now we can make the report. Please say more things to the camera." May then constantly begged for the reporters to leave.

"This is Alicia Kaynes, reporting to you now. I'm here now where it's discovered that a talking cat has been arrested for drug possession. He has the ability to speak in the human speech and is apparently named Socrates according to this demented young girl who has also been arrested and held in the same cell. We also have footage of the cat "Socrates" talking and additional footage of a dim-witted muscle man posing to the cameras humiliating himself."

"And… cut! You were great Alicia, just brilliant. We'll leave this to the editing room and this is seriously going to give you heaps of credit as a reporter."

"Thanks John, here's hoping… Thank you prisoners. You gave me material that's enough to get me a promotion!" the woman said in glee and walked off.

Socrates and Andre waved to the cameras and were in joy being under the spotlight, while May kept pleading for the reporters to go, exhausted.

As the four reached the stadium, they could already hear the cheers of the audience just nearby the stadium. "Oh no, the great Ricardo must already be performing!" the little boy blurted out.

"Who's the great Ricardo?" Lucy asked.

"He only happens to be the best bullfighter in the world! We should hurry before he's run is over!"

As the little boy ran, Adrian and Lucy quickly followed behind. Claire's amulet then began to illuminate and flashing images of the star-tipped jagged knife and the picture of her stabbing a little boy started to appear. Claire shook her head and then followed behind. "It must be close," she thought to herself.


	21. Chapter 21: Matador Of The Flames

**Matador Of The Flames**

The crowd was cheering, the stadium was packed full of many watching the proud sport

The crowd was cheering, the stadium was packed full of many watching the proud sport. As they got their seats, Adrian fell easily bored and looked at his hands for the whole time. Lucy however was into the crowd spirit, buying bottles of beer and singing along with the crowd. Claire's heartbeat grew faster however as she tried to conceal her amulet which was glowing more frequently. But it wasn't hard for the young boy to rejoice with the crowd with the arrival of a man, wearing bullfighter garments and carrying a red cape. The crowd grew wild with excitement, cheering and yelling at the top of their lungs, those less extreme gave a standing ovation to the man who had just appeared, he sent a bow and blew kisses towards the crowd.

"That's the mighty Ricardo. The legendary _Matador of the Flames_!" the little boy said, whistling to show his support. An announcement can be heard in Spanish, however Adrian, Lucy and Claire couldn't decipher it. Lucy ignored the speaker and joyfully clapped and jumped showing her enthusiasm as well. "So that's the Matador of the Flames?" Adrian thought to himself.

"What is the person saying?" Claire said, confused over the events. "The person is saying, 'welcome the legendary _Matador of the Flames_ in this eventful day today as he attempts to conquer this bull!" the little boy said, focusing his gaze on the matador and the field below. Gates in a few sides of the field were rattling and when Ricardo revealed and waved his red cape around the gates, the crowd's cheer elevated. The matador then quickly positioned himself in the middle of the arena and then the gates finally rose, emerging was an already provoked bull and aggressively charged at him, but the matador swiftly evaded the attack and walked two steps back waving the cape yet again. As he turned, Claire few weaponry such as a whip, wrapped around in a small loop. A long rapier and a small pouch containing a small dagger, "Why does he have a sword with him?" Claire asked. Lucy didn't pay attention and remained cheering for the crowd and sharing her beers with those that stood near her. Adrian looked to himself, holding his head with his three fingers, not noticing her comment. Claire then gave Adrian a bit of a shove, and asked him again till she got his attention. "Why does he have a sword?" When Adrian turned to look at her, she noticed dark shatters, almost like a broken mirror was in his eyes. Claire looked in fright and then closed her eyes, as it reminded her of the curse. His face was lifeless and she was getting no response from him. She grabbed him by the shirt and shook him, hoping he'd regain consciousness. His eyes closed, only to be unsupported by himself anymore, as if he were dead. Claire gasped, "This can't be happening. No! Wake up, please!" she said, her voice shaking. Her calls to Lucy were drowned out by the crowds cheering, "Don't die now! Not here…"

She held him and closed her eyes, a wave of tears flooding from her eyes. "What's all this? I take a short nap and you are all over me. I raised you to become too sentimental haven't I?" she heard, opening her eyes and seeing that he was wide awake. "But… but you weren't breathing. You weren't taking a nap at all!"

"What are you talking about Claire? I know when I've slept and when I haven't. Besides, what did you presume that I was doing?"

Claire gaped her mouth, almost saying the things she thought but she hesitated. "Maybe he was sleeping after all… But what about his eyes?" she thought, she regained awareness when the little boy had been tapping on her shoulder for her attention. She then turned to the boy, gazing at his innocent and youthful face.  
"When the bull is close enough to him, he has to kill it for the fight itself to end. It's either he dies or the bull does. In order for recognition for the crowd, he cuts a piece of it while it's alive and it's known as his trophy during the fight. But it's very dangerous, few bullfighters have died because of the sport."

"But why are the locals, particularly you so interested in it when people have died participating?"  
"I'm interested in it because I want to become one! The thrill and the excitement to watch legendary men like _the matador of the flames _just keeps your heart beating faster and faster and witnessing their courage and bravery to their closeness to death every single time the bull charges at them gives you a sense of involvement and keeps you on your seat. But I don't want to be on my seat, I want to be their entertaining the crowd… and being a legend like Ricardo. But every time I mention anything about bullfighting to her, she just dismisses it and yells at me and whenever I tell anyone else, they all laugh and tease me like it's a stupid dream to have. But I can't help it if I want to be a matador, it's my dream and I'm going to do it regardless of what my mother thinks. I can't actually believe that she said she had met Ricardo at her high school!"

But I can tell why she's very concerned. It's dangerous, she wouldn't want her son to be killed in a sport that's only aimed to entertain."

"I don't care what my mother thinks, or what you think! I'm going to participate in bullfighting one of these days and I'm going to show everyone who doubted me that I could do it. What's the point in doing something you'd hate for the rest of your life when you are never going to be happy from it? I want to use my time to do what I've always wanted to do. Desires are meant to be fulfilled, not ignored."

Claire then looked at the boy blankly, trying to find a suitable response to his statement. Alas, she nodded her head in agreement, having nothing to say to convince the boy otherwise and watching him continue to cheer on his hero, who eventually slay the bull, escalating the cheers of the crowd even more.

Lisa journeyed around the city and then out of the city making her way near a village consisting of a few cottages. A truck had many dents in it and many thumps were heard from the inside. Lisa was suspicious of it and then searched around looking for the trucker. "What exactly is inside this truck?" she asked a man, leaning his back on the truck. "It's a bull. An elderly lady called up and offered it to the Plaza México stadium in Mexico City, and since we needed some bulls for the bullfighting events taking place, we happily took it. It was a strange one; its horns had stars encrusted all over it. But a bulls a bull and I just assumed she put some gypsy decorations on it."

Lisa was suspicious of the details and looked to Mark to see if he thought there was something going on. "Where does this 'elderly lady' live?"

"Right on top of that hill there. She's a peculiar one and strangely enough, she's trained this bull to be great competition to that fraud "Ricardo", _Matador of only Names_. I'd like to see him up against this one."

The trucker then had a stretch and then got his back off the truck. "Well I'm off. Delivering this bull… What a life I've got." He smiled, looking towards Lisa. "M'am. I hope we meet again, cause you're a beautiful woman."

Lisa rolled her eyes and then walked towards the direction he pointed to during their talk. "Cold shoulder, I like that even more."

"Idiot." She muttered under her breath. "Mark, what do you say we give this elderly lady a visit?.It may seem she knows something about the Astral Beasts."

Mark nodded his head in quick succession. "That long walk was hardly entertaining. I thought there were monsters around these areas." Lisa chuckled. "Careful what you wish for."

After the bullfighting event was over, the young boy remained in the stadium seats. Claire, Adrian and Lucy also remained with him until the usher caught them and kicked them out. As the gates of the around the stadium were to close, the star matador rushed outside, only to call out to not close the gates as yet.

"Ricardo. It's Ricardo!" The boy shouted out, the group then turning to see the matador just right behind them.

The man, tall in height walked towards the group of people and kneeled down to talk to the boy. "And who may you be?"

"I'm V--"  
"Victor Fernandez! What are you doing at this stadium here" said a mother in an exhausted tone. "You were supposed to be at home after school! And you, you bullfighting misfit! Don't you dare encourage my son to become an idiot like you, and Victor who are these oddball strangers that seem to be surrounding you here?"  
"We can explain…" Lucy interrupted.

"Explain nothing! I already know people like you, young missy. Fame-attracted whores like you only wanting nothing but the attention."  
"How dare yo--"

"Mom! I don't want you to be talking about people like that." The little boy interrupted, turning his head around the strangers. "I'm sorry about my mother, please don't take these personally. She's really a good mother."  
"Victor, I want you here right now! Leave these strangers alone and you're coming home. Now!"

"No mom, I'm going to talk to Ricardo here! He's my hero." Victor said proudly. "No, you better go with your mother… Victor. She needs you at home."

"Something sensible said from a foolish man like you? Finally some sense has come into this world."  
"But mom, these people have to come to. They have no homes!" Victor exclaimed.

"What!?" the three said unison. Victor then turned towards them and gave them a wink. "Yes, they have no homes, but I know that they are friendly. Can they please come?"

"Are you insane Victor? These are strangers. Strangers!"  
"This really isn't a good idea little boy. You're mother is already furious." Adrian said. "Don't worry, just consider it as a visit to our house. You are pretty nice people, especially you." Victor said, pointing at Claire.

The woman was in disbelief. "Maria… I mean Mrs Fernandez. I'll happily give them a place to live so they do not concern you."

The woman was irritated at his comment and then turned herself towards the other side. "Well then, come along. You need a place to stay? I don't mind."

Victor then laughed. "Your mother is one weird lady alright." Adrian remarked. "Well that's just our mother."  
"Actually, may I have this charming yet beautiful woman for the night?" Ricardo said, "I'm dying for a bit of…"  
"Sure, why not?" Lucy replied back. "Lucy? What on Earth are you thinking?" Adrian shouted. "You want the whore? Take her. She's all yours." The mother said.

"I don't want to be kept bored, and he seems like a formidable man. I might have to teach him manners!"

Adrian then went up to Lucy whispering to her. "You can't just run off now. Where are we going to meet up?"  
"We'll meet up in the stadium, where Mr Matador here will lend his tickets that are currently hanging outside his pockets."  
Ricardo laughed, "She's a sharp one alright."  
"That's a first" Adrian said out-loud. "I heard that!" Lucy said, gradually walking away from them with Ricardo.

"He certainly is the Matador of the Flames if he can pick up women just like that…" Maria said. "Come along now, our house isn't very far from this stadium." The woman said, now with a bit of compassion.

Victor walked alongside Adrian and Claire, and looked at them with curiousity. "You people dress weird, but I guess that's how normal tourists dress right? What are your names by the way?"  
"I'm Claire, and this tall man here is Adrian!" she said with confidence. The two were confused by why the little boy wanted them to stay at their house, but because it intertwined with their current situation, they accepted the generous offer.


	22. Chapter 22: What's At Night?

**What's At Night?**

The two saw a little hut on top of the hill, puzzled they grew suspicious of it's location and the atmosphere grew darker as they continued to head closer towards it. Instead of a door, the entrance had an arched frame, but was covered in quilts that were hung at the top, underneath the quilts were beads that were furiously lifted by the strong winds. The hut itself was quite small, and the two adventurers gathered that the elderly lady that was mentioned by the trucker could be dangerous. "Arm yourself! She may be dangerous." Lisa implied, strongly directed to Mark.

Mark shook his head, amused at Lisa's sentiments. "What, she's going to hit me with her cane?" However as he said this, he remembered the trucker's comments about the bull and it's horns with 'stars encrusted on it'. Mark then was aware of the danger that he and Lisa could be facing with the elderly woman, but kept quiet and allowed Lisa to explain.

"How does an elderly lady train a bull? And why does she live in such seclusion from the village? Even her hut is suspicious; it's better to be prepared so we are safe. Who knows, we don't need any more things to be miserable about." From that moment Lisa stopped to rethink on what she's said. She looked down on the path towards the hut and inspected it. Her face tightened and the air gusted much more to the opposite way of where she was heading. Mark continued on and walked in front of her, not stopping to check on her. Lisa gasped in upset, "Aren't you… Aren't you going to wait for me? You surely aren't going to face the elderly woman alone…"

Mark then stopped at his tracks, his face looking towards the ground too and went on to brush his hair against the wind. "Scared of what's to come? I didn't come along to see someone who tries to act as our leader to be scared. I came here because I'm doing what I have to do. Ever since the little girl and that man came along the adventure, you've changed. You really _don't_ care anymore do you?"

Lisa struggled to find words and looked towards Mark, who's back was turned to her. "I haven't changed" she exclaimed. "And I still do care!"

"Then why does every single thing have to be about you and your sister?" Mark said, his voice raised and his fists clenched. The clouds suddenly moved in and small drops of rain could be detected. "In life, it's risky to be insecure… You can't have regrets or they'll haunt you for a long time…" Mark said, his tone suddenly changing. "You're going to get yourself killed if you keep hanging around just worrying about yourself all the time." He then readied his sword and continued walking.

Lisa as usual refused defeat but then looked to the sky and the clouds gathered more and more. Soon the winds grew stronger, the rain started to pour and thunder could be heard in the distance. She then took her gun out of her pocket and readied it with ammunition and headed towards the hut.

"What a mess…" Adrian said, observing the decrepit state of the house that both Victor and Maria Hernandez shared and lived in. "I can't believe you live in a place like this!" Claire cried. "Its just terrible. All in shambles and ruins" She said with utmost concern over the issue. She looked around seeing large cracks on the ceiling, smashed beer bottles scattered on the floors and small, round and hollow holes that went straight through the lounge area to the kitchen. The surrounds were extremely messy and it was hard to navigate around the area.

She then gestured Adrian to come over when observing the hollow holes. "Why are they bullet holes around their house?" Adrian swayed his head. "I don't know. But when we got here, it seemed pretty dangerous." Claire nodded, "The people we passed were carrying big guns. Do you think they have something to do with it?"

"So I see you've seen from all the glorious disorder left in this house you've got a right to criticize and be impolite?" Maria Fernandez said, with her arms crossed. "You'll be sleeping in the lounge room today, I'm sorry if it's not to your taste but sometimes when you do something like cleaning, others are just going to mess it up no matter how hard you try to get rid of it."

"I apologize Ms. Fernandez for my impertinence… I didn't mean to create such disrespect."

"Oh just shut it. Does it look like I was born yesterday?" Maria interrupted, she becoming more irritated. "You can take the couch. And the girl can sleep in Victor's room if the floor seems to be less impressive for her."

"Ms. Fernandez, what's happened here?" Claire asked. Adrian grabbed onto her shoulder and shook his head. "Don't ask that!" he muttered to her. "I have to. If something's wrong we have to help her." Claire demanded. Adrian's face grew weary "Claire, you can't always play hero for every person you meet. Sometimes things may get out of hand." Claire banged her fist on the wall. "How can you say that? That's what this journey is all about. People who have the ability of magic to help those in need, not to watch others suffer in silence." Maria sniggered. "Magic? Is that what soap opera's are revolving around now? You people are ridiculous. Journey? The ability to help? The only people who need help are you lousy tourists butting your heads into everything. By tomorrow, I want you out of this house and frankly out of my life. Victor, you better get your school work done before I get home. I'm tired of you just running off watching the stupid bullfighting. All bullfighters can all die and go to hell for all I care." Maria Fernandez then walked towards the front door and left without locking the door.

"I'm so sorry about my mother… It's just."

"Is she always like this? Why is she like this? And what does she have against bullfighting?" Claire asked instantly with much curiousity and concern.

"Claire stop it now! I don't want to you dwell in their matters anymore." Adrian implored. But Claire neglected the message, avoiding it and pursuing to understand why things were the way they were. "Where is your mother off too?"  
"Claire! That's not for you to know. Victor you don't have to answer that." Adrian approached Claire and gave her a hard-hitting slap on the face. Claire's eyes watered and she then cried. "We need to help them, if they are in danger. I can't just let them suffer here. I just can't."

"She's out there, getting drunk. That's why there are so many beer bottles in the house. Some days she may bring home a man. Other days she's come along crying. She's been like this for very long and it's because my father left her. Every day, she complains and cries about how my father left her the day she gave birth to me. I feel sad for her too."  
"Is that why your father isn't here?" Claire said, wiping some of her own tears. Victor nodded his head. "She gets angry every time I talk about bullfighting because… She used to tell me that my father, all his life wanted to become a bullfighter. I know, every single time I talk about it, I see her face and gets hurt very easily. But when you dream of becoming something, you can never stop dreaming about it. I know in my heart, that bullfighting is the only thing that's going to fulfil my passion, my desire. I can feel my father's spirit inside me whenever I watch them in the stadium. Sometimes I know my father is watching the fights with me and encouraging me to someday be the one entertaining the crowd."

"So you're father is…"  
"Dead. Yes, my mother told me. Her friends have told me about the incident when he was gored by the bull. She doesn't want me to be like my father… But I never knew my father at all." Victor started to cry. "I know my mother hates him and I hate him too for leaving her and not wanting to see me, but I can't help but want to know him… And now I'll never get that chance."

"Oh Victor…" Claire said, gesturing him to come closer and eventually giving him a hug. "I'm so sorry."

Lisa went through the beaded entrance of the hut, concealing her gun inside her pocket, but firmly grasping it in her hands. The hut was dark, with only just a bit of light from the outside getting through a rattling window. Lisa and Mark saw nothing until a blue light was flying around. Lisa raised her gun and Mark revealed his sword readying themselves for a possible attack. The blue light, even hard to see from the shrouding darkness of the room then illuminated the room revealing an old woman holding onto a golden candlestick with stars decorated on it and one of the three candles lit. "May I help you?" The elderly woman said. Lisa observed around the hut, seeing posters of a large bull inside a familiar stadium. She also saw magical circles drawn on the wall and a rug with a dark magical circle patterned on the floor. "We were just inquiring about the bull that you recently offered for the bullfighting competitions."

"Ah, yes you must be talking about my lovely Zeus. But please lower your weapons, I'm only just an old lady living in a small village of Mexico." With much hesitation, both Lisa and Mark lowered their weapons, but still grasping them firmly. "Well, what would you like to know about Zeus?"

"Well, we are the committee and runners of the event and we are just wondering the origins of 'Zeus'. It seems pretty unique of a bull to have stars encrusted and shaped on its horns."

The elderly woman laughed. "Is the committee worried about a bunch of stars that I decorated on the bull?" she asked light-heartedly. "Don't worry, it's not the stars you have to worry about, but the way I've trained it."  
"The way you've trained it?" Lisa questioned. "That's right, it's quite large for a bull and has a remarkable charging ability. It's not a force to be reckoned with…" The woman then let out a small sigh. "But because the stadium had been running out of bulls… I suppose they could give Zeus a test run. A shame for the bullfighters on the day though… Wouldn't that be right Miss Lisa Forrester?" the woman's voice then suddenly changed into a more youthful tone.

"That voice! It can't be…"

"Who is it? Who's that woman?" Mark asked in alarm. "It's Mystic, the sorceress that has released the 12 Astral Beasts!" Mark then held onto his sword and charged at the woman attempting to defeat her, but as he tried, a dark red hemisphere blocked his attack. "What?" Mark yelled. "How did she block that attack?"  
"Get back now!" Lisa shouted. Mystic laughed hysterically. "Too late!" The red shield that covered her then turned into a large beam and pushed Mark towards the wall, knocking him out. "No!" Lisa screamed out and rushed towards him, attempting to wake him up.

"Lisa, Lisa, Lisa. When are you ever going to learn? You can't change the fate of what happened with your sister. Let it go. I can take it from here."

"Shut up, you bitch! You took Diane's life for no reason. She was a great person who didn't deserve her life cut short and you took her away from me." Lisa angrily entailed. "Lisa. Your sister wasn't the only one that died… Maybe you should look at your friends. And why is it that everyone dies? People deserve to die, because everyone has a hidden agenda to destroy and disrupt the lives around them. It's inevitable and maybe, it's time for you to learn that too." The woman then flew up to the ceiling and waved her arms. "I know the perfect thing that will help you meet your end."

The rug with the magic circle glowed. "Diane Forrester, reveal your spirit to me! I summon you with my call!" the woman chanted. A blue spectre of a woman young girl appeared from the magic circle, Lisa gasped and couldn't believe what she saw. "Diane…?"

Mystic laughed, "Well not anymore!" The spectre then cried out calling to Lisa. "Run away, quickly! Before it's too late." It was Diane's voice.

The spectre then grew larger and transformed into a large, zombie like creature, which was ghastly and covered in decay. "He….lp" the beast said in a fading tone. "What? What did you do with Diane?"

"Her soul has turned into that ugly beast! I'm sure you are going to have fun either killing her, or letting her kill you. Pity Lisa, stuck in the tormenting twists of fate, in any case if you are curious, I'll be at that stadium watching over my lovely Zeus" Mystic then faded, disappearing and her laughs echoing throughout the room.

"Diane… How could she do this to you…? I-I… No… I have to do what I need to do. I'm sorry Diane, but I need to continue by saving the world, making sure this doesn't happen anywhere else." Lisa then readied her gun, and shot innumerable times at the beast that threatened her survival.

"The dinner was great! Thanks for that Ricardo, you are a true gentleman." Ricardo looked towards the other way from the dinner table at a restaurant. "I wish I could say the same for myself."

"What do you mean? I think you are! You treated me with dinner, have the greatest manners and haven't accidentally burped, farted or commented on my cleavage for all of tonight!"

"But that's what I mean. I've only just met you today and possibly tomorrow I'll never see you again. I haven't given you any long term hurt or abandoned you with an important responsibility that might need my assistance." Lucy laughed. "I don't even know what you are talking about now!"  
"Well that's right because you are only just a travelling whore." Lucy stopped laughing. "What?" she questioned. "Just a woman who wants to sleep with a man, only for her own pleasure."  
"Yes I understand what 'whore' means… But you really think I'm just that kind of person?" Ricardo nodded his head. "You came on pretty strong wanting to go on this date, wearing such skimpy clothes… Overfilled with joy with everything I say."  
"So you think I'm only here just to be in bed with you. Nothing else…" Lucy's felt insulted, but kept quiet. She was deeply depressed and unhappy with Ricardo's comments, even though she could see where he was coming from.

"I suppose I've got some explaining to do. I'll take you to my hotel room." Ricardo said. Lucy then nodded her head, trying to grin.

Claire abruptly woke in the middle of the night, hearing Maria and Victor Fernandez having an argument with themselves. Claire couldn't hear exactly what was said, but the words "bullfighting" and "your father" rang the most clearest and loudest. She slept on the floor in Victor's room, while Adrian was sleeping on the couch separate from her. As Victor entered his room, slamming the door, she pretended to go to sleep and Victor soon fell asleep quickly. Victor's snoring indicated that he was asleep, Claire went outside and went into the kitchen, seeing Victor's mother sobbing with a glass bottle in her hand.

"You can't always do this to him. He needs someone to love him you know. Yelling at him all the time… It's not going to help him… Victor needs his mother to be there and to believe in him, not some drunken woman who comes home to this house and doesn't even try."

"I know that…"

"Then love him before it's too late…" Claire ended.

"There are so many things that I've done wrong. I've left a woman the painful responsibility to raise a child on her own, because of my own cowardice." Ricardo began to explain in his hotel bed. Lucy was in the bathroom washing her face. "Ricardo, we've all done things we regret, but the most bravest thing is confronting it head on. Running away only leads to more guilt… If you know where this woman is, you should give her closure… And stop being a coward and be there for her…"

"But how can you say something like that? Aren't you sleeping with me tonight?" Lucy looked to the mirror and saw her reflection and then walked out towards the bed where Ricardo lied. "You can think what you want Ricardo. But I'm not that whore that you think I am and I'm no that shallow girl that wanted to be with you tonight for the heck of it…"

"Goodbye Ricardo thanks for tonight."

Lucy then exited the room, not looking back.


	23. Chapter 23: Troubled And Weary

**Troubled And Weary**

Lucy walked across the long hallway until she turned back, seeing Ricardo by the door saddened. She turned back, feeling a slight sense of remorse, despite his comments. "I'm so sorry Lucy. I didn't mean anything I said at all. You aren't really just that girl who just smiles at everything… Aren't you?"  
Lucy nodded her head, but felt no responsibility on giving him any sympathy and retaliated. "No, I'm that girl who smiles for everything cause she knows that she isn't appreciated. I laugh because I can't bear to see anyone or myself crying! I can't cry, because I know that it will only let others down." Lucy then slammed the wall with her fist, angry. "I can't even show any other sign of emotion apart from this because I know they'll leave me… Everyone does in the end. I hate the fact that even this image I put on, is a liability for myself."  
Ricardo gestured his hands, approaching Lucy but she made a defiant stance to reject his request for getting closer. "But, how can you stand it? For you to degrade yourself just for the sake of others?" Ricardo questioned.  
"It's because I care for them. It's the only way for me to be close to another living soul. Not anything would love me if it was me to appear out of this façade, out of this happy-go-lucky persona I've created for myself." Lucy quietened. "And that woman you've left, maybe she feels the same way."

"Maybe she does…" Ricardo mumbled to himself, looking down on the floor. Lucy then felt a surge of need, she felt as if Ricardo needed to hear what she had to say next. "Then you have to go to her." She said coldly walking towards the elevator.

"Where are you going?" Ricardo asked with worry. "I'm going where I need to be." She said, continuing towards the elevator. She went to the highest floor and took herself to the roof; her eyes glimmered as she watched the stars that were above. She didn't know what to think, never was she honest then what she had just displayed in front of a stranger. But as she gazed above, she knew that she was truly lonely at heart. She immensely valued solitude at this point, and reserved the entire hotel roof to herself for the night.

Morning broke and Lucy only realizing that Lisa and Mark were nowhere to be found. Concerned for them, she rushed to the elevator in hope to reach Adrian and Claire and be informed about their whereabouts. Claire in the morning however found that Victor's mother had already left the house, while Victor was up making his on breakfast and was on his way to school. She saw Adrian lying on the couch, flicking channels with the old TV that they had. "I'm off to school!" Victor said putting on his backpack and waved his hands goodbye.

As soon as Victor left, Claire walked towards the couch and saw Adrian lying on the couch and frustrated with the channels. "I think we should be wondering about where Lucy, Lisa and Mark are at the moment. Where could they be?"  
"Well Lucy said she'll meet us at the stadium and I'm sure Mark and Lisa will be fine. They are strong fighters and they can take care of themselves."

"I suppose you're right… I mean I was impressed with Mark's skilled swordplay and Lisa's precision and powerful ammo aren't anything to smile about if you were the enemy."

"That's true…" Adrian said with a sense of grief upon him.

While waiting for the elevator, Ricardo took notice of Lucy and approached her, he too also waiting for the elevator. "I know you're angry with what I said last night… And when you told me about confronting the woman I abandoned years ago, I decided that I should do it."  
"It's not going to be easy you know… But that's only because you made it harder for yourself!" Lucy said with a petulant tone. "I find it surprising that men like you even reconsider and think about your actions. Is it the first time you thought instead of doing rationally?"

"I admit, I do deserve the harshness of your words. Yet, it's human nature to feel guilt from loss from oneself or for creating it that affects someone else." Ricardo said, almost in gloom and misery. Lucy kept herself quiet and then gently nodded her head when the elevator opened up. The woman took her first few steps, taking notice of a reflective frame on the sides and looked at herself. Her eyes watered a few brief seconds later from looking at the reflective frame and she closed her eyes. "Neglecting something… is torment inflicted upon yourself. It only feels right because you feel like you've got control, responsibility over things that you really can't control. That control ruins your life as its only blindness from the truth. It's hard… Because truth itself is such a hard thing to confront for many and that's why we lose, loss only takes part from our ignorance… Our inability to face the truth, I tried so hard to feel like I've kept everything all together. But when I look at it in the end, I've only kept my arrogance and all the rest went away. It's gone…" Lucy wiped her eyes. "What an idiot I've been. There's nothing to learn from stupid mistakes, only to know that you were too far from the right answer. Don't mind me." She sniffed, trying to make a small laugh out of the situation. Ricardo tried to comfort her, but she backed away. "Don't worry about me. The only thing that anyone needs is some stumbling rampant idiot who's making everything worse, an unwanted cesspit of life, draining away everyone's own pleasure and enjoyment. The one who'll remain hopeful for nothing and for only despair to come their way."

"Lucy…" Ricardo murmured. "Let's just meet up with the others, I'm sure they'll want to see her back, rather than me." Lucy said, trying to give a smile towards Ricardo's direction. Ricardo didn't face her and fell silent from her sentiments. He watched the elevator numbers decreasing as the seconds flew by and kept to himself, not breathing another word. Lucy then looked towards the other direction, averting her gaze away from the reflective frame that served as a reminder from painful memories. She too looked up at the elevator numbers and soon realizing from the corner of her eye, Ricardo watching her with nothing but a face painted with misery. She felt a resurgence of guilt and looked towards the doors the silver painted doors both cold and closed. If only they were to open and bring in the morning light that both Ricardo and anyone she could think of that she had interfered with in her life.

"We better get going, we promised that we'd leave before the mother from hell comes back home." Adrian announced. He got out of the couch and gestured Claire to follow him out the door. Claire dismissed him and looked around the house, the same state that it was before. She then put both of her hands together and rubbed them with her right hand thumb, her magic amulet that she wore around her neck resting on the back of her hand. "I really want to help them," she muttered. Adrian facing her back watched the little girl saddened by the outcome of the lives of both Victor and Maria Fernandez. "I know," he said with empathy. "I know… Come on lets go. We have to leave here."

The girl turned her head towards the direction of her guardian and lifted her head and separated her two connecting hands. "Okay…" she said with slight hesitation and ran towards her guardian. She walked behind him and as she was going to leave through the door, she looked back at the miserable state of the house and their lives. Shattered bottles and the desecrated state of their home. She then proceeded, taking small steps away from the house, holding her guardians hands and walked along the rocky road.

The beast was struck down and defeated. It lied dead on the floor above a rug depicting a magic circle. The light from the circle faded and the monster disappearing only mysteriously appearing: a black velvet tome with the symbol of the sun, a crescent moon and stars depicted on it. A blue spectre, with its hand covering its eyes appeared floating above the book. "Diane…? It can't be…" Lisa muttered. Her eyes widening over her amazement from the spectre, "What's going on?"

The spectre took its hands away from its eyes and responded. "There's something shining in your pocket."

Lisa examined her pocket only to find out Diane's spectre was telling the truth. A blue crystal on a necklace with a crescent moon patterned as an attachment. "Why do you have that? Why did you keep it?" Diane's spectre asked.

Lisa struggled. "It's the thing that I thought will help eradicate Mystic… You died with this stone… and I'm keeping it to make sure it doesn't go in the wrong hands…"

Diane nodded her head; her spectre scattered into small particles of light and directed to the blue crystal. Lisa couldn't believe what she saw. The crystal took in all the light, but her the spectre spoke once more. "Don't use the necklace for the wrong reasons…." The blue crystal then grew dim and the light faded. Lisa held onto the necklace, grasping it tight on her hands… She spent a few minutes examining and trying to get her sister's spirit to talk again, but there was no response.

"The Lunar Crystal…" she said to herself. She then looked to Mark, still unconscious tended to his wounds in hope that she wasn't too late to mend him. "You wont be lost… Diane… We have to head to Mexico… To capture Taurus."


	24. Chapter 24: Eulogy

**Eulogy**

May looked around her prison cell, she could barely sleep. She wasn't surprised seeing Andre or Socrates sleep their way through all of the day, they were tired from the media accolades that came their way. They had experienced two days of flashing lights; constant talking and new reporters coming in while the other ones leaving the so called phenomenon of the talking cat. It was ironic on what once was intended to be a punishing centre turned out to be a haven for publicity and media attention for both Andre and Socrates. However May could disagree entirely, despite her occasionally posing for the cameras and somewhat enjoying the spotlight that was put on her. It was only until she realized that the others were gaining much more attention, she found herself at a point of envy and didn't enjoy the attention that they had gathered. The girl could just imagine the reaction of Lisa finding out that they generated much attention due to Socrates- a cat being able to talk. She shivered at the fact that Lisa, if she ever did visit the prison would give scold them harshly or even leave without a word. Even travelling together and being friends with Lisa, May felt that sometimes she couldn't dependent on Lisa too much and felt that she was a bit cruel.

But the strange thing was, they could _always _break out of the prison. It was at a pretty poor state with many cracked walls and because of their magic, they could always escape. Andre with his powerful strength could break the already rusted bars. Socrates could probably easily squeeze through while May's power can take on any threat from a distance. May made sure before she got out of the bus, she hid her bow at a very remote spot of the bus, but despite not having her bow, she was still capable of other powers as well. May tried to think of a solution to get them out of this mess, but was stumped at every single thought having known that nearly all of Mexico and pretty much the rest of the world that might of known who they were. She shook her head and felt disillusioned once she looked back at her fellow cellmates. The prison wasn't much of a prison, much more just a cellblock in a big police station, daily May would just watch the TV screen that was positioned above a high shelf that she could see diagonally from her cell. The guards who were on duty around the areas would regularly watch the TV as well. Even in a foreign language, May took interest in the TV because she knew that there wasn't anything else. As she gazed up at the television, the news was on. While she quite couldn't understand it, she knew that there was something peculiar with all the exclamation marks used in the segment. She later than saw hundreds of mountain goats surrounded by a high peak and only noticed three words in the report. She also caught a mountain goat with a golden star patterned on its skin and knew that it had to do something with the astral beast. May tried to remember this as hard as possible as she knew the next location for where they should travel to.

Claire rushed towards the stadium to see a familiar face that she knew. "Finally you're here. You kept us waiting for a long time!" Lucy joked, smiling happily. Ricardo gazed at her with a sense of understanding and smiled, while Lucy caught him with the corner of her eye. She dropped her concentration on him and focused on Claire who hugged her tightly. "You're never this affectionate towards me! What's happened to her Adrian?" she asked, her smile gleaming when she saw Adrian. It was as if she saw the sight of happiness when she saw Adrian as Ricardo observed and directed a smile towards himself when he witnessed Lucy in high spirits. Adrian caught up, panting and trying to catch his breath. "Maybe she's just really happy to see you." He struggled, while panting. Claire nodded her head cheekily and went on to greet Ricardo. Lucy put a peculiar stare towards Adrian, pouting her lips and raising her cheeks. "You really do know what to say to make someone feel better." She muttered to herself.

"So are we going to see the show?" Claire asked in a very childish manner. Her excitement grew as Ricardo nodded his head. "More than that little miss, I'll take you on a tour of the stadium." The girl ran around in excitement, contented and jumped with joy. "Well follow me" Ricardo instructed and both Adrian and Lucy did as they were told with no hesitation, they too were excited for the tour. "Come on!" Lucy said, encouraging Claire to follow along. Claire though felt something suspicious, her amulet was glowing again she was slowly left behind by the others by a long round corridor inside the stadium. She received a gentle tap on her hand. On her guard, she was scared of what it could be. The perpetrator laughed in a very child-like laugh. "It's me silly. Who did you think it was?" a little boy stated. "Victor! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at school?"  
The little boy nodded his head. "Well, lets say I ran off from school. I just really wanted to be here!" Claire shook her head. "No, you shouldn't now get to school quick before you get caught."

"No! I'm going to stay here at the stadium and see what's going on for today's show." Claire gaped her mouth and looked despaired. She tried her best to deter him from leaving the stadium. "Claire? Where are you? We are up on the seating. Just go a bit further and you'll see a few stairs!" Adrian called out. Claire snickered. "He's always like that…" she said towards Victor. "I'm coming," she yelled out and then she looked at Victor in the face, "Please do the right thing Victor and go to school. Your mother's going to be worried once she knows that you weren't there." She said with almost looking and sounding desperate because of her concern. After, she raced to the stairs and caught up with the rest hoping that Victor listened to her plea.

"Finally you're here, we were worried about you!" Lucy stated. "We thought you were going to run off on us."

"I'm sorry, I just slowed down a bit that's all." Claire apologized. Ricardo was explaining to Adrian about his passion for bullfighting. "I've always wanted to do it, since I was a child. I dreamed of nothing else." Ricardo paused briefly for a few seconds and looked down at his shoes. "Cant say I have no regrets though." Adrian nodded his head to be sincere and to gesture him genuinely listening to Ricardo's confessions.

"Hey look! There's a little boy in the bullfighting area!" Lucy shouted. The shout moved their attention to the centre of the stadium and Claire in particular grew with more concern.

"What's Victor doing there?" Ricardo asked. Adrian shrugged his shoulders. The man looked around until he saw a woman and shook his head. "No… What is she planning to do?"

It was Mystic and with a lift of her arm raised the gates and a bull appeared out onto the arena. "No!" Claire yelled, closing her eyes. Victor faced the direction of the yells and before the little boy realized, a bull with a stars encrusted on it's horn was charging towards him. The boy stood in fear, too shaken to move he attempted to evade the charge like a real bullfighter, but failed and was gored by the horns of the bull and was dragged towards the wall. The blood from the poor boy draped around the bull's horns and caused it to become more furious and aggressive.

Mystic disappeared into thin air, witnessing the devastation that her 'pet' made and felt a slight remorse. Claire opened her eyes, with tears flowing from her eyes. "I killed him… I killed him. It's all my fault."

Ricardo stood like a statue, in shock of the events that have occurred. Visioning the horrific accident from what he loved and the death of the son he never really knew. He too, felt an insurmountable surge of guilt.

"We better defeat it before it escapes and runs into the city!" Lucy instructed. She readied her fan and threw it towards the bull. The fan circulated through the air and struck the bull, giving the bull a severe cut. Adrian raised his hands and a green slimy liquid rose from the ground and entrapped the bull, defeating it by circulating an acidic and poisonous slime. The bull lying unconscious on the ground. Claire couldn't muster the strength to contain it within her wand, still traumatized by the death of Victor. Ricardo stared at the three, wondering if anything he saw was actually true. "Claire, contain it before it wakes up again!" Lucy ordered. Claire hesitantly activated the amulet and raised the wand up to the sky. "Taurus… the raging bull of the Earth, aid us with your power and strength… Contain…" Claire said, distracted by the constant tears from her eyes. Unlike before, the corpse of Taurus didn't turn into an orb of light. "The process isn't working…" Lucy muttered. Another light from the opposite side of the seating areas was glowing. As soon as that light illuminated, the beast became a big sphere of light and its form was distorted into a large beam of light that headed towards the Astral Wand.

"Where's that light coming from?" Lucy wondered and she headed towards the other side to see. "Lisa! How on Earth… Oh…" Lucy then discovered that Lisa was the person on the other side supporting Claire to capture the power of the beast. She also witnessed that Lisa still has the Lunar Crystal- the necklace that her sister used to capture the threatening beasts at the times before.

"Finally… The beast of Taurus is sealed within the amulet." Lisa concluded, breathing a sigh of relief. Lisa, Mark and Lucy rushed towards Claire to see if she was in a better state. Claire, still dreading and feeling absolutely guilty leaned her head on Adrian's chest and muttered kept reciting the words, "I killed him."

Ricardo was in disbelief, all these events… It wasn't long the event runners saw the corpse of a young boy almost impaled by a bull's horn.

Days had passed after Victor's death. The young boy was buried in the local cemetery, Ricardo paid the expenses and he confronted Maria about their son's death. It didn't come with no disputes, eventually Maria revealed that she had enough money for both her and Victor to move away. For the first few weeks, she used it on drugs and alcohol as she was struggling with depression over her regrets. She then at the lowest point let Ricardo into her life and they together moved away from Mexico to try and recover from their losses. Adrian revealed the group's story in saving the world; both Ricardo and Maria wished them well. The last time the group ever saw Ricardo and Maria was at the gravesite of Victor Fernandez… His gravestone depicting a small picture in a frame of the boy, a few red roses for the love he never had from his parents during his life and candles to signify blessings of light and hope. Claire calmed down from her hysteria and went alone with Lucy and Adrian. "A life cut short... But he was a dreamer… Someone who believed in his dreams and made the best with the time he had." She said to the two, facing the gravestone. She then with a long match lit up a candle and recited the little boy's epitaph.

**Victor Fernandez**

"_The little boy who might have lost his chance with his dreams… But won life with a champion's heart"_

"Lets go…" Claire said wiping her eyes. "They are waiting for us at the bus to get to the airport."

The other two then walked away to the bus. Claire taking a few brief moments watching her candle burns strong, sending a small prayer that she hoped would reach him. All dressed in black, her hair swayed ferociously in the wind and as she walked a great distance to catch up to her friends, she looked back and saw her candle at that precise moment go out.


	25. Chapter 25: Guilt

**Guilt**

It didn't take long for the group to realize that they were back, on a long bus ride to the airport. Things felt out of their control and now they are back again when all hell broke loose before hand at Mexico. May ran to her regular seat on the tour bus and lied down on the three seats that faced the side rather than the front. Socrates too tried to sleep and felt a sense of relief after their release from prison and Andre went all the way to the back and sat down gazing at the front. "So what happened when you were in the city?" he asked. Claire stopped and stared at Andre, and refused to speak her face feeling weakened after the trip to the graveyard. "What's going on? Why does everything feel glum? The atmosphere here seems so sombre." And he was right. As the people boarded the bus, many walked with their heads down on the floor and refusing to speak. "Guess Mexico wasn't a great stop. We got locked up in prison there."  
"We would have liked it more Socrates didn't think those tablets were lollies. They ended up being depressant drugs and he's turned out strange." May stated, still lying down and closing her eyes. Her tone was playful, which was bizarre. However, after mocking Socrates she had realized that Lisa had still not recognized that the media knew who Socrates is, and what he is capable of. Socrates however, after the remark felt irritated at May's outspokenness. He saw her as very close-minded, seeing how he had expressed guilt when the group reformed after their release.

"Why were we released anyways? The police officer didn't say after he opened the jail cell!" May asked, trying to observe theories in her mind.

"I'm not sure actually. Lisa did you have to do something with it?" Andre looked towards the woman, seeing her head shaking. "No. We were at the country observing historical monuments." Mark looked to her and then looked towards the window. Where he was sitting on the bus was directly behind Claire, who sat alone staring at her amulet. "She's lying. You know that right?" he whispered to her.

"Do you think I care?" Claire retaliated, with a deep sadness in her voice. Mark was surprised at her defensiveness. "It wasn't your fault. Just get over it."

Claire didn't feel the need to say any more words, so she sat quietly looking towards the window. "Be that way then," the boy said in a harsh, uncaring tone and moved to a different seat. The girl still felt sad from the events ago and can recall the moments in her mind. They just wouldn't go away and even when both Adrian and Lucy tried to comfort her, it didn't work. She closed her eyes to try to find a sense of tranquillity, her emotions out of control and her thoughts on the event. She didn't need pity from others; she needed to forget about it.

"Just leave her alone Mark. She may need some time to herself." Lisa pointed out. The woman raised her hand and loudly whistled to gather everyone's attention. "Our next stop is the Old Peak of Peru, otherwise known as Machu Picchu. Thanks to May who has pointed out that news reports has been covered about a large amount of mountain goats have been strangely appearing there. But before we take the bus trip to the airport, I propose that we take a rest for good and drive. I'm pretty sure everyone's feeling like they need to sleep for the time being."

"Well thanks for waking me up!" Socrates said in outrage. "I had to Socrates. It was an important announcement. I'm not going to tolerate anyone in this group acting like they can push me around. Especially after the events that got you, May and Andre into prison."

"Would everyone just shut up about that? I know I've made a mistake and I've paid my price and now you and the others feel the need to take a cheap shot at me? I'm sick and tired of hearing about me making the mistake and there's a lot of guilt that I'm feeling at the moment." Socrates said, raising his voice.

"Well so you should. It was a stupid mistake to make in the first place. We are here to hopefully help the people who have been affected by these dangerous monsters. Not be delayed from your ignorance and avarice over confectionary." Lisa rebutted, growing more furious.

"Well thanks for making me feel better!" the cat said in sarcasm, making an effort to go to sleep.

Lisa sighed and then took a seat and took a deep breath. She knew the group was crumbling apart and watched the distance.

"That still doesn't answer May's question… Why were we released from the prison?" Andre asked again.

"Why don't we just forget the fact that you in there in the first place Andre? And be thankful that you are out!" Lucy said, annoyed at his ignorance from the situation that just happened before. "I was just curious Lucy. I mean it just seemed weird that's all! Or is it a crime to actually think about things when you are around?" Andre growled.  
Lucy shook her head in disbelief. "Do you even hear yourself? You sound so stupid. When was it when I made it clear that you weren't allowed to think at all?" Lucy snapped, and then turned to face a different direction.

"Stupid? How is that stupid? You just all of a sudden attacked me because I want to know what got us out of prison! That source could be something that may prove to be an obstacle to us in the future!"

Lucy laughed. "As if you'd think that far ahead, you don't even know how…" A small silence occurred when the woman looked around trying to find something she could strike him back with. She then saw Lisa reading the dark velvet book. "You don't even know how to read a book!"

Andre slammed his fist on the seat next to him and the cracks could be heard. There was a short silence after he said his next words. "Of course I can read a book! How stupid do you think I am? And you are accusing me of stupid? You should take a look at yourself. You are beyond stupid, you are just annoying waste of space. You are only here because you are a childhood friend. If we weren't as considerate as we are we would have left you. And now, it goes to show that we should have."

Lucy was inflicted by hurt by his words and chose to back down entering submission. "I guess you're right. I am some useless, unlike-able childhood friend that just kept staying." She muttered her herself. May looked towards Lucy, and saw a glimpse of Lucy finally being hurt from the things that were said about her by others. May always saw her as a strong, persistent woman who carried on from all the harsh antics that were done to her by a regular basis, but this time May felt as if Lucy had finally exposed her sadness and discontent. But that alone wasn't the thing that got May angry towards Andre. "Are you that insensitive? How can you say that about her?" May directed, pointing her index finger at Andre. "It's okay May. Andre's right. Maybe I'm here for no reason. Maybe I am a waste of space… Please put your hand down, it's rude to point…" Lucy fussed, saying things erratically and fast.

"Lucy how can you say that? You are needed. You are a valuable part of this group. We are never going to leave you for anything."

Andre hissed, but May gave him a threatening glare and the man decided to stop.

Adrian, through the all the conflicts was silent. He didn't know what to say or what to think. The group wasn't like this before, even in their previous journey. Everyone was struck with bad emotions and hit hard with feeling remorse over the mistakes they had done. Adrian, read everyone's mind and could easily see all the negativity that was surrounding the tour bus. Yet still he couldn't find a solution to the problems, disheartening himself.

"They released us because they can't charge a talking cat for drug trafficking. And they caught the bastard who did the deals. Okay? So could you please stop shouting and go to sleep." Socrates requested. His rationality kept people quiet though everyone still adamant with their stance. At this time, they would have expected Lucy to encourage and enlighten them with her positive thinking and expect a laugh from a joke that Andre pulls. But none of this happened. Instead, the bus fell quiet and everyone wanted desperately to fall into a dream and escape the truth.

Adrian looked at Claire and saw such misery in her eyes. "You didn't kill him Claire," he thought to himself. He in despair leaned his head on the window and closed his eyes. A dark aura surrounded him, but nobody saw.

They were at the stadium again. "What are we doing here? What's going on?" Claire was at the stadium seats watching the arena. Nearly everything was covered in darkness apart from the area Claire stood. She watched the centre and saw Victor again. "Victor? He's alive!" she celebrated. "But how?" she asked herself. "He had a funeral. The epitaph I wrote for him and the… bull Taurus." In an instant, the bull was released again. Claire activated her amulet but as she waved the wand and said her incantations, the spell was not cast. Nothing came from her magic. "What?" she said in fear, observing the bull threatening to charge Victor. She waved the wand frequently just attempting to prevent his death desperately.

"You can stop that with your charades. You just look foolish." A woman said appearing from the shadows. The woman was wearing a long robe and a net tired to her hair.

"You! Why do you have to always torment me with these dreams? I've had enough of it!" Claire said, readying her wand against the woman.

"I'm not here to torment you, not today Claire. You can put your wand down now and stop acting ridiculous." The woman said in a cool tone. The woman raised her hands, directing them to the centre of the stadium. Transparent ripples were created from her hands and with the palm of her hand the scene froze.

"What's on your mind Claire? You can tell me." The woman looked to Claire and touched her arm, lowering it down. The girl was frightened, yet she felt an impulse of anger grasping onto her wand with much force and pressure. "You don't seem to be in a good mood. Should I just leave you with that scenario in your mind then? I can leave, I've got other stuff to do."

Claire felt mocked by the woman. "Oh I suppose you try and kill us with all these strange beasts and you me to socialize fine?"

"My intent was not to make it harder for anyone, it was to punish those who walked the Earth that committed and are going to commit more dangerous acts that harm humanity." Claire could not believe the comment gaping her mouth and almost laughing. "And I suppose killing an innocent Mexican boy who had troubles with his family was justifiable. I bet he destroyed the world with his pursuits to be a bullfighter!"

"I admit, that was reckless on my behalf. See I was aiming for those that ran those bullfighting events rather than the little boy." The woman said, laughing.

"Oh! Instead of just him, you would have killed everybody. You really do care about the world don't you?" Claire said with sarcasm. "Don't you have remorse for the killings that you do? The little boys parents are… In a bad state now and probably for the rest of their lives." Claire said, toning her voice down and the guilt she experienced before rekindled. "Because their little boy is gone. Because their little boy was killed by a heartless sorceress and a girl who could have saved him."

"Well, you can't change the past… Unless you possess the power of time, which even to me is quite impossible." She said with a bickering and nonsensical manner.

"From the way you are explaining things, you don't seem to care that a little boy's life is gone. The boy of two parents is gone. And for every other innocent person you kill, just because you think it's right is gone."

Mystic took a deep sigh and swayed her head towards Claire, putting her hands together and looking up. "These were not heartless killings…I merely want to eradicate those that harm the life of another that did not deserve the terrible occurrences, triggered by others."

"What do you mean? Of course people make mistakes, but no one needs to die by them from some mad woman who thinks she can make this world infallible with her crazy designs and desires!" Claire shouted.

"Haven't you learned anything from your adventures? There is so much evil and corruption that is in this world… Don't you see anything that's wrong with it? I aim to achieve world purification, to create a utopia where all life is not neglect and is cared for and to eradicate those that only live to harm others." Mystic said in disappointment, she turned her head the other way and covered her face with her hands.

"The only thing evil was your beasts attacking innocent people like Shawn Lane and Victor Fernandez. People have lost their lives from your so-called purification. Innocent lives"

"But Claire do you even know why you are on this journey? I give you this astral amulet and join an entourage of people, yet you yourself do not profit or get anything out of it. Just Fated Star's Child- stricken by fate and only going with the flow, with no objective but to follow everything else, just like Lisa's sister Diane."

Claire took time to think about what Mystic had just said. After that day in the Magic Festival at the remote village near Toronto, the place where she received her undying desire, her wish to channel and create magic and the whirlwind events that have led to now. She could hardly remember why she was here in the first place.

"Don't you remember that drive to save your little sister Kristen? Or did you forget about her too?"

Claire jumped with shock; she had just been reminded of her sister who she had not thought about all this time. She shook her head in misery. "How could I forget? I forgot about my sister who's still with the Witch of the Shadows."

"You've forgotten because you've lost a sense of knowing what's really important to you now. All these events that have occurred to you… You've lost track and it seems to be doing much to all your friends too."

"My friends? Is that why they have been fighting all this time?"

"Yes. It's all because as creatures with emotion and the ability to retain memories these two things can easily sidetrack us. It only takes a bad situation with horrible, unforgettable memories that turn us into violent and hostile beings. Don't ever lose track of anything… Or you'll forget why you exist in the first place and you yourself cease to exist. Wondering the planet with no meaning in your life."

"Why are you telling me this? You want to kill me! You want to destroy the group that I'm travelling with. You've made things difficult for all of us."

"I'm disappointed in you Claire. I bestow one of the strongest magical gifts that this world ever created and yet you never stop to understand what I've told you all this time? You seem to want to interfere with my master plan, making the first attacks on my Astral Beasts… But I don't blame you. After all, you are doing what you think is right… All the more to try and put an end to you capturing and containing the life forces of the creatures that enforce my wishes." The woman got up from the seat and started to walk away. "But one thing Claire, next time we meet… we will not confront each other like this."  
"Don't worry, once we meet again. I'll be ready. I will defeat the Witch of the Shadows and retrieve my sister. I will save Adrian from the curse and I will defeat all of the astral beasts to stop them from harming the innocent. You may think you are doing the right thing, but it's not and it's going to stop." The little girl said, with determination and hope.

Mystic laughed. "Just remember one thing then. Don't forget about your reason and meaning of your actions, cause there's no time for regrets… And should I add, there will be a war… And if you do succeed on capturing more astral beasts and defeating me, then I hope you are prepared to make the world however the way you want it to be. You can't let your guilt get the best of you like it has done now."

Claire nodded her head. "Don't worry, it wont. And besides I'm ready for anything." She said with enthusiasm.

"So be it." The woman clicked her fingers and disappeared into the darkness.

Claire woke herself up from the dream, already seeing the light from the sun and shadows of the trees breaking through the windows and Socrates driving the bus. "A war was going to come?" She looked around to see nearly everyone else sleeping. "Not when we're here to prevent it!" She said with confidence watching the roads pass by.


	26. Chapter 26: Elevator Conspiracy

**Elevator Conspiracy**

"I'm surprised you're up so early. You are usually just snoring your way in bed back at home." Adrian said, lifting an open book off his face and smiling towards her. "And I thought you were asleep. Why on earth would you put a book on your face anyways? You aren't the reading type." Adrian laughed, throwing the book behind accidentally hitting Lucy and waking her up. She let out a loud groan and banged her fists on the seat in front of her. "Who threw that book!" she shouted, clenching her fists and awaiting for a confession almost in preparation for attack. Adrian looked towards Claire and pretended to go to sleep by putting his two hands together and resting his head on them closing his eyes and gestured a cheeky smile.

Lucy looked towards Claire, seeing the girl laughing at Adrian, as it seemed as if he was mocking her. "You!" she pointed her finger, "Why did you throw the book at me?" Adrian ignored her, looking at Claire and rolling his eyes continuing his entertaining ways of mocking Lucy. Lucy, frustrated, got up from her seat and confronted Adrian, blocking Claire's sight from his facial gestures. "Young man, explain yourself about the book!" Adrian looked up to Lucy who stood tall compared to him sitting down. He looked into her face with an innocent gaze and shook his head. "I'm sorry grandmother. I promise I wont do that again," he said in an immature and youthful voice. Claire's laughter grew and Lucy with the book closed it and threatened to strike it on Adrian. "There's nothing funny about this Claire. I was struck by a book because of recklessness," she said, turning her gaze on Claire who was still laughing. She then looked back at Adrian, who still preserved his innocent look towards her and hiding under his jacket to cover himself from a likely attack, his face just barely peering out from under the jacket. "That's right, don't hit old ladies. It's the wrong thing to do!"

Lucy grew more furious after the comment. "Why you!" The raised her hands in the air with the book on hold until she heard Claire's laughter growing even more. Adrian got out of his jacket watching Lucy's angry face turn into a small grin. She nodded her head and smiled. "Isn't it great that someone in this bus is finally smiling?"

"Yeah it's been a while since someone's done that. With all the negativity that happened in Mexico."

"It was so sad to hear about Ricardo and Maria. When they confronted each other, there was just so many arguments and struggles. And with that little boy's death…"

"Hey… They'll make it and we need moments like these… So we'll make it."

Lucy nodded her head. But when looking at Adrian, he seemed to give peculiar stares towards the book that she was holding onto. Lucy then gazed at the cover of the book, noticing a picture of a baby and written in rainbow colours and inside coloured blocks was: _ABC's: Learning English For Babies._

Claire's laugh grew more loudly and Adrian started chuckling on his own, watching Lucy's embarrassment and her reaction.

The woman looked towards Adrian, more irritated than she was the first time. "Why you? Was this all a plan to humiliate me?"

Adrian and Lucy then started to shout at each other, almost like a contest to see who was the loudest and most abrasive.

"Here we go again… It's going to be another long one." Said a spirit of Adrian that suddenly appeared sitting himself next to Claire. "H-how did you get here?" the girl spoken in a worrisome tone, curious yet fearing that she may have saw her guardian in a ghostly form.

"Don't worry, I'm just triggering your memories of me with my powers that's all. Just channelling my presence in your mind."

Claire looked down at her amulet, comparing this to the times that Mystic used to torment her in her dreams. She saw a similarity, but shuddered and tried to draw any more comparisons. She fiddled with her amulet and then looked to Adrian leaning on his shoulder. She was surprised, as she didn't fall right through his spirit. "Amazing isn't it? I've always tried to refine this skill, but never was able to do it completely."

"Adrian… Why do some people like us have the power of magic? While everyone else doesn't?"

Adrian looked towards Claire. "I guess you never lost your curiousity in this journey." The man laughed. "Magic is given to those from higher order spiritual and magical beings called Sages or Mystics. These beings bestow power to those that have a promise or make a pact to them. This pact then allows the person making the pact power that they desire. The purpose must be approved upon by the Sage or Mystic in order for the power to be transferred."

"Then if it's just a process of requesting for the magic, then why doesn't everyone have magic?"

"The race of Sages and Mystics died out thousands of years ago. Their race was killed and their powers were destroyed, as it seemed wicked. There are only a few of us with extraordinary powers, thanks to our ancestors and families who have survived from all this time. And as a person with such power myself, this way is probably the best."  
"Why?" Claire asked. "Wouldn't have been better to embrace magic so that everyone is capable of more things?"

"During the time where Sages and Mystics still existed. Many sought for much power and even falsely promised the beings of their intentions. Those who gained the power created wars and tried to rule the world to their favour. That's the setback with power. Those that have it, do their best to make sure that they are recognised and worshipped for it."

"And that means the people in this journey are those that were born by ancestors who have previously made a pact with a sage or mystic before…"

"That's correct. But of course, as magic is passed down by hereditary means, there is some alterations, giving us different abilities from our ancestors. Magical prowess can also skip generations, so be very fortunate that you have the abilities that you have. "

"Wow! I never knew that. But I'm wondering who might have made a pact with a Sage or Mystic with my family? I hardly ever knew them… And I don't know if they are ever coming back since they seem like they are always too busy for me and since I'm on this journey at the same time..." The atmosphere changed as Claire fell silent peering at the windows passing other cars. They were near the airport, she was sure of it. The sky looked bleak, only barely shining, but mostly a dark blue with some heavy clouds, while at some other parts of the sky, Claire could see a light blue as if light was to be seen at that part of land at the moment. "Did you… Did you know my parents well?" Claire asked in quiet, almost mumbling.

Adrian took his time to answer this question, looking up and bending his neck to face the bus at an angle. "I only really knew them as they told me to take care of you. My parents and your parents were friends and as my parents passed away, they asked me to take care of you when I was older. That's how I became your guardian. Though that was the only time I really associated with them."

"Wow your parents must have been pretty lenient when they allowed you to travel the world saving people with your powers and letting you go to such a big adventure."

Adrian then stared into space, looking towards Claire with a questionable face and gradually smiled, nodding his head. "You know, you're right about that."

Claire could hear Lucy yelling at Adrian in the background of Adrian's spirit at the same time with her yelling in the bus right next to her. "My powers have gone awry… Well at least I got to have some enjoyment out of not entirely being there to hear Lucy yelling at me." He got his index finger and circulated it directly next to his head. Claire laughed as he did this, until his spectre faded.

"What is with all the commotion? Honestly people are trying to sleep!" May shouted out, with her eyes closed and her body fatigued to move. "And you are making it better by shouting at your lungs out?" Andre said, waking up to all the noise.

"It's just annoying, it doesn't seem like I've got enough of my beauty sleep!" Andre scoffed. "Well I'm sorry your majesty!" he said in reply. May ignored this comment, and turned her head to the other side for some rest, squinty her eyes tightly.

"Why they never built different sectors on buses is beyond me." Lisa said, rubbing her eyes and putting her thick black spectacles that had seem to fall on the floor back on.

"You were asleep Lisa? I thought you were awake cause you observed that big black book all night. Interesting read?" Socrates spoke. "Yes, it was quite an interesting read… Very interesting" Lisa looked towards Claire, with interest. Claire was frightened and turned away once she saw Lisa observing her from afar.

"What does it take to get an honest apology from a man? Honestly." Lucy said. "Well it takes something to be apologizing for to get an apology." Adrian smartly replied back. "I think the question answers itself, especially to indecent people like you!" Lucy said with a grin and a wink.

"Oooooooooh" both May and Andre jeered. "Shut up the both of you!" Adrian shouted.

"Enough of your nonsense everyone! Here we are at the airport!" Socrates announced. "Finally we're here! Show us your money maker Socrates." Lucy celebrated. Of course she was referring to his money making spell, but everyone else thought otherwise as they blankly stared at Lucy because of her comment.

"What?" she yelled out in question of their reaction.

"Don't worry honey, I get what you mean. I'll show you my money once you show me your goods." Socrates said flirting with her.

"But I don't have any with me at the moment."

"Oh you got plenty of it!" Lucy looked around. "But I'm not carrying any goods at all. I mean we haven't been grocery shopping for ages!" The woman was confused and terrified. "Is it something that I can't see?"  
Socrates sighed heavily. "Don't worry, once we go shopping someone's got to buy you a brain."

Lucy laughed, "You dirty cat! Why don't you just go lick yourself in the corner! Oops." Everybody gasped. "Or why don't we just go to the airport and board for our plane silently" Lucy said to her embarrassment.

"But what's going to happen to the bus?" Claire asked.

"Don't worry, either someone's going to steal it or they are going to tow it away to the dump." Socrates stated, hopping himself out of the bus, it didn't take long for the others to leave the bus too, carrying belongings and walking towards the receptionist counter to buy some tickets.

Lisa hurriedly found herself a remote spot where she had observed the large black book in private. Everyone could see her eyes flinging about inspecting every page with haste, but also with comprehension and understanding. May spent her time rushing to the any clothes outlet that was in the airport, basking herself to extravagant pleasures by trying the most expensive clothes in each store and eating in the most expensive foods. Her favourite beverage being ice tea and her meal to combat the fluids: sushi.

Adrian spent much of his time sitting and resting in the chairs waiting for the arriving plane, but also rarely stepping in bookstores and reading a few blurbs to his interest. Andre was often bossed to follow May around, as a servant to her needs. Even with much complaint on his behalf, he was submissive and went along with her orders. While Lucy and Claire walked around the airport, in awe of it's space and watching the elevator numbers increase or decrease from the flashing numbers. Whenever someone got to the floor from where they were staring, people would often think weirdly of them. The two of them would giggle at their reactions, but on one occasion, an affectionate man hugged them both for their eccentricities. "I'm getting married at California, by the beach." He said. As that man passed, both Claire and Lucy put their heads together. "What a sweet man." They both said at the same time. "All the more better for the honeymoon!" Lucy blurted out. Claire raised her head in question. "For the honeymoon? What do you mean?"

Lucy slapped herself. "What is with all these innuendoes that I'm casting of?" she grunted. Claire was still confused. "Innuendoes?"

Mark approached Lisa without any implication, surprising her with his presence. "What are you doing here?" she asked, in fury. "Can't I get a moments worth of privacy without someone being suspicious of my behaviour?"

"It's because your suspicious that's why you've got no privacy. You've been staring at the book for ages and I've seen you staring at that Claire girl…"

"Making assumptions isn't smart Mark. Especially on how easily beaten up you were when we confronted Mystic. Your recklessness nearly got yourself killed."

"That may be so, but I'm not complaining. Not as much as you are."

"Be that it may. But I wish for my personal space thank you." Lisa said, trying to dominate the situation.

"I know you're up to something… And you are not going to harm a living soul with that book. Not even that Claire girl."

Mark moved away, suspiciously staring at Lisa.

Claire and Lucy were never bored, checking the elevators and watching the numbers flash.

"Oh Lucy was it always this fun at your last adventure?"  
"It was nothing like this, these adults guided us and we had to be polite!"

Claire grew even more curious, as Lucy just blurted out details of the journey before. "How did you get into the group? Do you know how it was formed?"

"Gosh! You're asking a lot of questions. Well… When I was younger, I was recognised for my talents with magic, although I rarely use it myself. I don't know really! It seems like a blur."

"Surely you remember!"  
"Well I'm trying to… The group formed as two people went across the world looking for those gifted in the arts of magic and then they had me. I can't really remember who they were or what they were but I remember being so amazed from their talents. They were powerful people, very powerful. I don't know what happened to them either. After we finished our journey, they sort of disappeared."

"They went around the world to gather people with magical powers? That's such a commitment."

Something suspicious then happened to the numbers flashing. The terminal near the area where Lucy and Claire were standing lights were flashing and the elevators started going up and down in an erratic manner.

"Claire, activate the wand… Now!" Lucy was serious, getting her bladed fan out and opening it up.

The girl was confused on what was going on, but decided to follow through Lucy's advice. "Is there an astral beast around here? We just defeated Taurus a few days ago!"

"No, but there's something dangerous. Someone is summoning powerful magic."

The elevators then stopped… Opening up was a dark sphere of shadow that was rapidly spreading making what was inside the elevator shrouded in darkness. Mutilated and animals that were inside out appeared striking towards the two. Lucy furiously attacked the monsters with upfront with her bladed fan, cutting them apart while Claire hit them with her wand with no success.

"What are all these monsters doing here?" Claire asked, yelling at every hit she made at a monster.

"Someone with powerful dark arts magic is summoning the powerful creatures of the dark to this airport."

"Summoning?" Claire thought. "It has to be Mystic!"

"I don't who it may be, but this is the source of where it's coming from and we've got to destroy it before it spreads throughout the whole airport."

Lucy put her fan away and clasped her hands together. "What are you doing? You are going to get killed if you don't attack them."

But the woman ignored her. As she released her hands, a little orb of light flew on chest level and expanding into a huge light beam, hitting and destroying the monsters and the shadows itself."

Lucy raised both of her hands, drawing the light beams and the darkness to her arms. Claire was amazed at this power. It was a mind-blowing experience to see Lucy's extraordinary powers. As she drew in all the light and darkness to her body, the elevators turned back to normal and the airport was functioning properly again.

"That was surely a detour, I bet our plane's coming soon." Lucy walked away, almost as if nothing happened. While Claire was standing in awe, "No wonder why she never uses her powers all the time."

The group eventually waited in the resting terminal, resting for the time their flight to Peru was coming. While May, sneaked off, renting a hotel room for herself for a day. The next day, was when the plane arrived.


	27. Chapter 27: I've Been Waiting

**I've Been Waiting**

Claire felt that it was obscure to see Lucy disregard her phenomenal powers that she had displayed near the elevators of the airports. On the plane, she was curious about the journey that they had before. Surely what both Lucy and Adrian have stated wasn't only the things that happened. But even so, getting an answer out of anyone seemed futile. The little girl was walking around the plane trying to find her friends during the plane trip. Much of the plane felt small, passengers were cramped and babies can be heard crying, their mothers stressed and trying to relief them, they two on the verge of sobbing away their tears of stress and exhaustion. The girl too felt their pain, with her friends drowned out by a visual display of tired, ragged and those that suffered from the cramping and lack of space that the plane provided. She later gave up, returning back to her seat from the urgency of the air hosts and hostesses showed, almost hostile of her wondering around the small plane. She sat, unsatisfied by her not fulfilling her curiousity and looked to the person sitting adjacent to her. It was a charming businessman, with dirty blond hair and clear smooth skin. He was a beautiful man; Claire felt a strange notion going in her head. She quite fancied him and took small intervals gazing at him and the small attraction she found herself to like. The man noticed the strange occurrence that had been conducted by the small girl, catching her stares and smiling a weak smile and nodding.

Claire felt a surge of disappointment. "Is he less comfortable due to my presence" was her thought. After catching his weak smile, she decided not to look at him again with a feeling of small guilt.

She then looked to the other side, seeing a man reading a book. He wore a simple pair of dark blue jeans and a green t-shirt with various writings on it. He too was handsome, but not the man that any girl would suggest. His beauty lied in his simplicity, already he had displayed with his presence alone. Claire, internally felt that a sense of glee just sitting next to the man.  
"So what do you think of the book?" a woman said, sitting opposite to the man.

"I can't believe you're making me do this." He said, almost having no remote sense of pleasure as if being forced to read.

The two then laughed, after a few seconds, his sense of displeasure disappearing with a huge grin on his face. Claire pursed her lips and looked up, trying to avoid the two who were obviously a couple, feeling a little despair over her small infatuation.

The woman let out a small noise, in realization of an object that she had dropped. The object rolled over towards Claire's leg-space, she automatically going to pick it up curious of what it was, coincidentally the man reaching for it as well. Claire reached the object first, grasping it on her hands, a round yet smooth object it was. The man then over Claire's hands, in surprise of the girls hand present, holding possession of his partner's object that she had accidentally lost.  
"Oh." He noised out looking towards Claire, letting go of her hand. The only thing she thought about at the time was how smooth his grasp was to her hand and how warm it was. Claire got up and looked at the object, she gazed it for a short while. It was an orb that acted as a pocket, a small necklace with a purple jewel inside with a pretty and delicate seashell necklace beside it.

Claire then looked towards the couple that stared, the man with much confusion in his face while the woman smiling.

"Thank you very much for picking up that object. Goodness, I'm such a klutz when it comes to dropping things."

The little girl didn't know what to say, with no reaction on her face as if she was blankly staring at both. A few seconds after the woman's comment, she laid her hands towards the woman and forced a light smile. "Oh, no. It was no trouble really it wasn't," she said. The woman took the item and then faced forwards, looking at the seat in front of her. While, the man gazed at Claire, with that same stare with confusion. Claire moved her lips to the side, letting a small gesture of disappointment.

"Thanks…" he said, and then looking towards his book and started reading from the pages he kept open.

Claire felt a little rejected from his sentiment, "Like I said… it was no trouble at all…" she mumbled. She then looked up, feeling trapped between those that she felt that didn't want her presence, due to her strange fascination and interest on them. She couldn't look at one side because of the man who was almost scared of her adoration. While the other, due to him already being occupied and his less than comforting stares.

Claire got up from her seat and gestured for the couple to make some room. "I just have to go to the bathrooms, that's all."

The man reluctant to give her space, the woman slapping him on the arm, "Give her some room!" she said quietly, however with a fierce tone. "Don't mind him… A little literature gets to him every time. It's no wonder why he doesn't present himself in the best of manners." She smiled.

"I'm not really a reader myself, it's nice to read into someone's thoughts but it's always important to have your own." Claire said triumphantly, taking a small peek towards the man's expression. He gave her some room after that, gesturing with his arms for her to move forward.

"But, you need to get a sense of understanding. Books are vital for intellectualism, a sense of consciousness of society and a grasp of understanding of life." She said, trying to defend her stance with terms to consolidate it.

Claire smiled and tilted her head to the side. "But not everyone's a reader." The man smiled shortly after that statement, letting out a small laugh. The woman shook her head. "Only letting her through from your arrogance cause she defended you?" she giggled. "Well I think you are missing out on a lot without reading!"

Claire shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really get the time…"  
"No time for reading? What on Earth do you actually do with it?" the woman said with curiousity.

"I think with writers… As they reflect on the marks that people have made in the world. I'm going to try and make my own."

The man nodded his head with awe, inspired by her comment looking at her with warmth and a smile on his face.

She went into the bathroom and washed her face. "What on Earth am I thinking? Why did I feel this way about that man?" she reflecting, thinking back to why she defended and felt so eager to please him, feeling tormented. She looked at herself in the mirror, seeing her sister Kristen behind hiding behind her back peeking into the mirror.

"Kristen?" she said in realization looking back. There was nothing there… And as she looked back into the mirror, her sister disappearing from the reflection and was nowhere to be found. Two small knocks could be heard. "Are you okay Miss? You've been in there for a long time." It was the woman's voice. Claire wiped her eyes, "Yes I'm alright." She got out of the bathroom and saw the woman standing there. "I was just worried that there was something wrong."  
Claire sneered, "No, there's nothing wrong."

"But you look flustered! Are you sure everything is okay?"

"Yes, I just need a little bit of rest that's all." Claire's eyes started to water. The woman moved away, to give Claire some room. Claire immediately got back to her seat closing her eyes, the man still reading his book while the other one peering in the windows. Before she got back to her seat, she noticed in the distance Lucy laughing loud with a stranger and that stranger escorting her to another section of the plane.

As Claire closed her eyes, she imagined the two men just watching her. Being interested in her activity, but she was pessimistic. Two men, who she had a sudden attraction to, could not possibly be interested… Why would they?

So was anything wrong? She was confused even more and questioned her part in the journey. She knew she was important for sealing the beasts, but was she up for it? All she wanted to do was save her sister and the group already presented a hostile environment with each other. And what about the prophecy from Mystic indicating a war? Was she going to take part in that too? The future seemed uncertain, but already things seemed to grow more complex for her. She even doubted to continue on this journey, as she felt already that she has had enough. Small tears fell from her eyes; all she wanted to do was to be able to save her sister and hoped that she was alive to do so. But a stronger need was apparent, stronger than the desire to save her sister. She felt selfish even thinking about it, but she knew that there was nothing else that she wanted at that moment.

She wished for Adrian to be there to comfort her, but he was nowhere to be found on the plane.

A small tap was felt on her shoulders. It was the man beside the window, gazing at her with a sad face. "What's wrong?"

She opened her eyes and wiped her eyes, another flow of tears running after those that have been wiped. "I don't even know…" she tried to laugh. "I guess I'm just waiting for something. Something that's there."

It didn't help that the man didn't understand about her desire. He didn't know what to say and gazed back at the window. She then forced herself back, her head leaning on the chair and looked up, gradually closing her eyes. The man reading the book took his eyes off the words and finally gave her attention without her noticing.


	28. Chapter 28: Going In Flashes

**Going In Flashes**

Claire woke up as the she heard the couple beside her kissing and laughing quite loudly while the majority of the plane were quietly keeping to themselves or sleeping. Claire turned her head the other side with jealousy. She couldn't stand that the two were professing their love towards each other so publicly. She found herself insulted and completely outraged at the two's self-centredness. She turned her head to the side, facing the man at the windows, who she seemed to have strong yet unexplainable adoration for.

"Can't stand it too? They've been at this even when you were sleeping. Talking complete, utter nonsense to one another." Claire chuckled. "At least they are finding a bit of enjoyment in this arduous trip in such a miniature airplane." The man put his hands on his chin, looked up and nodded. "If only others could find the amusement in just plain ridiculousness. Such as us, who wallow and observe such an idiotic display." The man moved closer and whispered Claire's ear, making her giggle uncontrollably.

"You are a very mean man! Criticizing people around you with such cynicism and insults." Claire jokingly said, then continuing to giggle. "Then why are you laughing? Besides they are not insults, merely just stating the truth."

The couple had stared at the two near the window; rolling their eyes around and leaving stares that would penetrate those with the weakest of hearts and those who constantly trembled with fear. Claire used to be one of those, but she wasn't anymore returning the gesture.

The man rolled his eyes again, while the woman stared reaching her arm over the man's shoulders and pulling him towards her, successfully deterring his attention towards the two.

Claire giggled towards the man, leaning her head towards his direction. "People these days! Just glaring at others for the heck of it" she said out-loud. "It's decent courtesy to not drag people down as low as yourself!" The man heard this comment and knew that it was directed to him, but he decided to pay more attention towards his partner. Claire witnessed this and looked down at her seat and saw the grey floor and paid attention to that. It was almost that she was sulking inside, about the loss of interest that the man displayed. She felt as no one cared about her feelings, but to the naked eye, it was obvious whenever Claire was depressed over something. No one dared pay attention to her; while she seemed harmless it never occurred for the people in her life to worry about her. And now without Adrian, she felt, as the world never cared. Especially her mother and father. She was daydreaming about them, "What did they look like?", "What were they like?" and really "Who were they?". All these questions she wanted answers, but had no one to look to. Her curiousity faded over time. She grew disinterested, more so neglectful of her origins as she knew to herself that it was futile to ponder over things that can never be surfaced.

"That's a beautiful amulet that you are wearing. It seems like a magical artefact, maybe passed on by witches or something." The man said, interrupting Claire's thoughts. It took Claire exactly two seconds to think of a reply. She remembered Adrian advising her to not talk about the journey or her magical powers to strangers during one of the bus trips. She ignored, this rebelling against his statements. They were almost irrelevant, as she felt isolated and alone.

"Well, it's sort of passed on" Claire asserted. "It was given to me by a fortune-teller… She turned out to be evil in the end, cursing my Guardian with arcane powers." She light-heartedly said. She held the astral amulet with two fingers, flickering about. "What a story! Arcane magic, fortune-teller and cursing your guardian, you really must have ticked the fortune-teller off for her to do something like that!" the man joked around.

"You don't seem really convinced that all of this is true…"

"What? Magic to be true? I don't think so. It's only things that good writing and animation can do these days. If it were true, businessmen like me would use our magic to _de-borify_ our jobs instead of sexually harassing our secretaries or dance around with _Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves_ during lunch break."

It took a moment for Claire to grasp at the reality of the man's words. "I'm just joking about the office stuff. I'm not a businessman, despite the suit. I work with the magic alliance."

"Magic alliance? I thought you said magic isn't true."

"I've been assigned to headquarters. But apparently, I got some invitation from my home to go there. They said it was an urgent notice, so I thought I had to come."

"You don't even know what they do. It could be dangerous." The man smiled. "It's so nice that you care, but what could it really be anyways? I can take care of myself."  
"But, you can't go somewhere without knowing what on Earth it is. That's just…"  
"Stupid?" the man interrupted. "You shouldn't worry about me. We've only just met." Claire sulked. "But I feel like I have to…"

She looked at the right side of his suit, a badge saying "Magic Alliance Tactics Management". She was then relieved. "I guess I don't have to worry about him after all." She thought to herself. She observed the badge to find his name. "David Esterton huh? That's who you are…"

"And I should presume that you've got a badge I can wander my eyes over?"  
"Sorry." Claire apologized, nervous and not knowing what to say back. "I'm Claire Nash…"

"Well then Ms Nash, what brings you here to an airplane headed for Peru?" he said. She couldn't deny how charming the man was and shrugged her shoulders, unable to restrain her smile. "Well, I'm heading for the Machu Picchu ruins. I'm really interested in it."

"A young girl, interested in ruins? That's incredible. A lot of the children at my time only cared for being movie stars or being famous."  
"Well then there's that of course…" she humoured. "A girl wants to get dolled up and have superstar treatment." She said, reaching out her hands and grabbing hold of David's arm and leaning her head on his shoulders and she closed her eyes to rest.

"It's only cute when five year olds do that." David said. Claire opened her eyes and realizing his comment, and loosened herself from holding on to his arm.

David grinned tricking Claire. She then pushed his arm gently. "How dare you." She said in sarcasm. "And now we're behaving like them.

Claire opened her eyes and saw the man still looking outside the windows. "Why does it seem like this flight is going in flashes?" she thought to herself. "The man at the windows, turning towards her and smiling. She turned to him and smiled back. "I wonder how long this flight will go on for. It seems like ages."

"It shouldn't be too long. Like you said, the flight is going in flashes." Claire was intrigued at his comment. Just what did he mean?

Then the flash occurred again….

As the plane landed on the airport, the travelling bunch regrouped and discussed about what to do next, "Machu Picchu right? How are we going to get there if no one knows where it is?" May stated.

"I did some reading. Apparently, you can either take the train or you can take the scenic route and walk there." Lucy said, in delight of knowing the answer.

"Do you know where to make the tours then?" Mark snapped. Lucy struggled to find an answer, she didn't read at all. She just heard small talk in the plane when she was escorted to business class. Lisa jeered, "She's only good at stating the obvious, but doesn't really get the full details." May felt outraged at the comment. "And I suppose YOU know where to go and what to do?" she retaliated against Lisa and Mark.

"Does everyone have to be so mean to each other?" Andre said. "Who was talking to you dumbo?" May said in aggression. The group had another falling out, with May, Lisa, Andre and Socrates arguing and conflicting. Mark walked away from the scene, Adrian followed. To Claire, It almost felt like the inevitable break up of the group. May ran off away from the group, dragging Andre along with her and Lisa went off alone still carrying the black book with her and Adrian and Mark where nowhere to be found. It was only Lucy left stuck in the middle with Claire and with no sense of direction she stayed in that centre, sitting down and remaining silent. She had lost her friends due to the flashes and now she had lost the man who had just sat next to her a few minutes ago.

"Where could he be…? Where did David Esterton go?" Those, being added towards the millions of questions that she felt that nothing could ever answer.


	29. Chapter 29: Loop

**Loop**

"What was going on?" Claire thought opening her eyes and realizing that she was still boarding on the airplane again. _10 minutes until the arrival of Lima, Peru… _a woman's voice announced, coming out of the speakers. 10 minutes? Time felt altered towards Claire who was panicking in confusion. Was it one of Mystic's tormenting tricks that she had always done again? A picture of her face remained inside, flashing in her vision almost as if it was subliminally advertising in her mind. The girl put her hands to her head, spreading her fingers apart and grasping strands of her brown hair that was trapped between them, her head pounding excessively with fast succession. Her eyes expanding as she couldn't handle anymore of this torment. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and exhaled. A sense of relief overcame the panic and paranoia and she was herself again. Claire looked towards the side where the couple was, they both were separated just looking up and not whispering, giggling or kissing. Stoic like statues they were, almost just waiting for a sign that the airplane had already landed. To Claire, it seemed as if they had a major dispute or they could only get a sense of relief from getting off the plane. It was cramped with just little leg space after all. Claire then looked at the other side where the nice gentleman was sitting looking outside the window. She gaped her mouth and looked to his direction waiting for him to look back, as he did, he had made the nervous smile that he had made previously as they were boarding on the flight. This confused Claire and perpetuated her theory on this being a sign of Mystic taking control over her mind. She then looked towards the man's suit to find a badge, but there was nothing there. The man grew even more nervous, shaking.  
"W…W-what do you think you are doing?" he quivered uncontrollably from the girl's suspicion.

"Does your name happen to be David Esterton?" the girl demanded an answer, her tone almost as if she was angry and desperate.

"N-no. its Frederick… What are you trying to do? Help!" the man called. The man beside her was irritated. "Hey, little girl. What do you think you're doing? Psychic readings? Stop scaring everyone with your crazy antics!"

"You butt out and shut up." Claire said, almost with a lifeless tone. "It's none of your business."  
Something changed Claire; it was as if she wasn't herself at that moment. The man grew furious, as if he didn't care if she was only a young girl. He clenched his fists and directed them towards the girl's head, leaving little space between.

"You wouldn't dare… If you know what's good for you." She said again in that same lifeless voice, her pupils changing into a dark purple. The man trembled in terror, not having any sort of understanding to what was going on. "What the hell are you?"

Adrian came running through the blue curtains from another section of the plane. "Don't touch her!" he said, holding his arms and directing his palm at the man. Adrian walked slowly towards them. "Put your fists down. Claire, come with me and leave these people alone."

Claire hesitated, storm clouds moved in and the lights in the plane flickered about erratically as the plane was about to land on the hard surface of the airport runway. Claire fainted when the airplane door were opened. Finally they have landed and they were ready to descend and exit the plane, till the only people left on the plane were both Adrian and Claire. Adrian waiting for a response to an unconscious Claire, the air host attempting to usher the two out but Adrian refused. It wasn't until the host was insistent on their leave that Adrian decided to leave the plane, carrying Claire in his arms. The man was confused, just what has been happening to her? It was his responsibility to look after her; he felt a sudden upheaval of remorse. For a brief moment, he saw a change. She isn't usually that rational and offensive towards others, she was shy towards strangers. Yet the tone of her voice against the scared passengers struck a chord with him, he knew that whatever the change was, it wasn't good. He laid the little girl on a seat, watching her attentively for a sign of her being awake as he sat the chair opposite to hers hoping for the group to know where they are. The little girl yawned and stretched her arms, Adrian holding on to her and shaking her, in joy of her waking up. However, when Claire opened her eyes, Adrian saw darkness like shattered glass in her eye floating around and travelling towards the pupil of her eye. He knew the perpetrator of this trick. His face aching with pain just to see Claire becoming a victim of hers, he just didn't know how. He was the one who had the curse… So why is Claire becoming affected by it? He couldn't understand. Claire read the shock on his face and grew worried. But instead of holding him tight, she pushed herself and stood up. She couldn't comprehend his reaction and why he seemed so sad. "What's wrong?"  
"Nothing… Nothing's wrong. Everything's okay."

"How could you say that? I've seen how the way you looked. There's something wrong and you can't lie to me about that."

_She really has no recollection with what happened in the plane? And how she changed into someone else? _Adrian thought to himself, consolidated by him reading her mind.

"Are you just going to sit there not telling me what happened? I'm so confused, it's like if time's altering itself and I can't keep track on what's happening anymore. Things have been getting so hard, especially with the group. We're fighting a lot more and things we always leave everything unsolved." Claire said, pausing herself to look for the next words. "What is this journey all about, despite saving the world from the Astral Beasts? Running away from confrontation yet making fights towards those who are doing the same thing? Some journey that is. It's never about 'saving the world', it's more like 'saving themselves by running away' or 'saving yourself by telling everyone lies and sugar-coating the truth."

"Claire the journey isn't like that. We all do want to save the world…"  
"See there you go again." Claire interrupted, in fury of Adrian's blatant reply. "It's comments and an attitude like this, that make our minds just travel in loops and never progressing for answers, just questions."  
"Then what do you suppose we do Claire?" Adrian erupted. "You make it seem like we're the evil ones in this. Of course we're going to think about things other than saving the world! It's because we've got things to worry about, things to leave behind. We aren't travelling in a loop; it's just that you think we are. And of course it's about saving the world, you saying that we'll never progress is the attitude that's stopping you from thinking about it is. Think about what you say before you start accusing others. It's incredible in how selfish you sound, you make yourself out to be the only one thinking about the journey and you disregard everyone else and what they've been through. Everyone's had it tough, not just you. Think about that!"

Claire fell silent; she didn't believe the discussion was to be continued anymore. She looked down at her amulet and raised her head looking at the lights on the ceiling of the airports. "Let's look for the others, I bet they're looking for us too."

Adrian nodded his head, almost questionably towards Claire. "Yeah, maybe we should." As they walked around the airport, he never spoke another word to Claire until they found them.

"Where have you been silly gooses? We were all wondering where you were!" Lucy jumped, waving her fan to cool herself. People at the airports stared peculiarly at her, due to the fact that her fan she was publicly showcasing had blades on the top. She was oblivious to the fact and waved it proudly because of the attention.

Lisa studied a travel brochure and raised her head to the group. "So we have to organise a tour to get to Machu Picchu. Our option is hiking."

"Hiking? Our feet will get hurt from that!" Lucy snapped, angry at Lisa's decision. "There's no time to complain! We have to do what we need to do."  
"Your feet will hurt? More like your brain will just figuring out which leg to put forward first." Mark said on the snide, giving high-fives to both Andre and Socrates. But where was May to defend Lucy was what Claire thought at the time.

"May? She ran off somewhere, I think she wanted to find us a hotel to stay for the night." Lucy said. "I'm surprised she didn't drag Andre into finding one though. Maybe she needs her alone time."

"Well we can't leave without any sign of where she is… We are going to have to wait." Socrates said.

"Wait? It seems like we're getting nowhere with anything all the time." Mark stated, Lisa nodding her head in agreement. Adrian looked to Claire for a reaction, but received none. The group then realized a young woman carrying bags of designer shopping clothes skipping about towards them.

"There's May. She's coming!" Andre said, in excitement. "Finally, can we get to our hotel rooms now?" Socrates said. "It looks like she used the money for something else _rather_ than hotel rooms."

May smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm back!"

"May, I thought you would actually use the money for something useful for all of us, not just to enhance your aesthetic appeal." Lisa grunted out.

"Hey Socrates could just make more money anyways, besides it's important to look your best whenever you are in a battle."

"Oh she got something for me too! Thanks May! Oh my goodness, it's a dress with jewellery encrusted on it! That is so AWESOME." Lucy celebrated

"We've got a mission to save the world here. I think it's decent to actually pay attention to that crisis first." Lisa rudely interrupted.

The group then made their way to the city to find how to arrange a tour to Machu Picchu.


	30. Chapter 30: The Stalker

**The Stalker**

It was raining outside, as Lucy saw outside her hotel window with her elbows firm on the window porch, lifting her rather sullen face glancing outside of the windows, seeing the small specks of water rolling down the window. At the same time, Lisa in another hotel room was observed the black tome, which had piqued her interest from the moment she laid eyes on it, grinning until she had reached a certain page with a spell, in the same room Mark was sitting on the couch, pretending to rest his eyes already gaining suspicion of Lisa with instinct alone and occasionally opening them to observe her. Socrates, sitting on the dining table then moved to Mark and rested on his belly, purring in satisfaction. Usually this gesture alone would send Mark angry and lead him to throwing the cat away from him, but this time, Mark ignored the cat and continued pretending to rest.

Andre, who regularly spent his time resting, was excited when he heard that the hotel featured a swimming pool, gym and sauna and spends most of the day boasting and achieving and even exceeding massive feats of heavy lifting getting stronger with each lift. He was determined to continue, even in the face of his own struggle and was persistent with each lift. His body sweating, his arms trembling, his mind focusing yet struggling but his heart constantly pumping, trying to overcome his battle of attaining strength.

Adrian on the other rested on the bed, closing his eyes and imagining, letting his mind ponder over the strange events of their journey. He seemed reluctant to move; as he was struggling to review the fact that this wasn't the happy adventure he expected it to be. From the faces he saw when they reached the hotel in the rain, he knew that it would take something little for everything to break into pieces. He opened his eyes, watching the fan on the ceiling rotating around swiftly and got up from the bed walking towards the clothes hanger with his jacket supported on one of the hangers. He reached into the pockets and in his hand emerged a photo of a young Claire and him with two other people in front of a Ferris wheel at night, he looked at the back of the photo and written in thick, dark ink wrote: _Don't let her go… Until she has already made her decision…_

Claire sat at the entrance of the hotel looking up in the lights, almost hurting her eyes. She sniffed, wondering if this journey is doing her any good. The entrance of hotel featured high ceilings with glamourous chandeliers. The floors were polished, almost to the point that you were capable to see a dim reflection of yourself. At one point, a little girl had lost her balloon as it floated high towards the ceiling, trapped in one of the expensive chandeliers that looked as if it was made from diamonds. Panicked by the loss of her balloon, she pulled her parents sleeve and pointed towards the yellow balloon that she had grown attached to and has lost possession of. The parents grew concerned, the father humourously jumping up towards the chandelier in attempt to retrieve it, despite it being too high for any normal man's grasp. Claire, slightly interested in the events pointed at the balloon and gestured with her index finger for the balloon to come to her discreetly. As she did so, the balloon slowly hovered towards her, with her taking hold of the balloon. The parents were too distracted by telling the receptionist for assistance in retrieving the balloon, while the girl walked towards Claire. The girl took tiny steps, and fell at one occasion but still smiled happy to see her balloon out of the chandeliers and to someone who might possibly return it to her. She was at least 5 years old and had little hair on her head, but hers were a shiny dark hair, her eyes widened as her tiny arms tried to reach for the balloon that was previously hers. She was adorable.

"Can I have my balloon back?"

"Sure, here you go." Claire said with much enthusiasm, in which she thought was amazing due to her sombre and dull attitude towards things at that moment. It was a change.

"Your eyes are purple." The girl said, out of the blue.

_They are? _Thought Claire. _Why would they be purple?_ She peered on the shiny tiled floors and saw a reflection of herself, even when it wasn't very clear, the purple eyes glowed and were easily apparent from the shiny floors.

_She's right… By why are they purple? _She faced the floor, peering to see more of the purple eyes with the dim reflection and saw small shattered pieces of darkness flying into her pupils. It was exactly as when she saw Adrian, who too suffered from this predicament. _That must have been the thing that Adrian saw in me in the plane! No wonder why he reacted so strangely._

Claire shut her eyes tight, shaking her head in disbelief and her hands pressured on her head, as if she was suffering from a headache. All of a sudden, she ran outside the hotel building without a thought, her mind was muddled and she had no idea what to do. She opened her eyes and felt heavy ran all over her clothes and head. She walked away from the hotel confused and out of her mind and couldn't comprehend the darkness that she saw within her eyes.

She didn't care that the rain was heavily pouring in the streets, she ran further and further away from the hotel, almost having in mind that she was never to return.

"Are you okay Lucy?" May asked, emerging from the bathroom with a toothbrush in her hands (with toothpaste all over her mouth, dripping onto the floor).

"Yeah, I'm fine… Really fine." Lucy said nodding her head, still watching the rain from her windows. May approached her. "Are you sure Lucy? You seem a lot different today. You've been watching the rain from the window ever since we got here. Look at me! Are you alright?" May demanded, expecting another lie from Lucy, but hoped for Lucy to speak truthfully.

Lucy turned her head slowly, nodding her head frequently. "Yes I'm fine… I'm really just fine" she said, smiling but May wasn't convinced by Lucy's response. However, she thought it wasn't deemed necessary and walked inside the bathroom yet again to continue brushing her teeth. As she left the sight of Lucy, she turned to the window again, with one arm wrapped around the other, while the hand the end of that arm was pressing against the window. The rain grew heavier and heavier, pressing harder against the window with each drop.

Andre stopped working out at the gym only to pass the entrance hall to see Claire disappear. He rushed to the elevators and pressed the buttons as fast as he could, as he was concerned of her disappearance. He went to each of the 3 rooms that each of the members of the group discussing about Claire's sudden absence. He gathered the group together in the dining hall that could be found at Adrian's room.

"What? She's gone, we have to try and find her!" May replied, releasing angelic wings from her back.  
"Not so fast little Angel. The city is big, she could be anywhere in the city. It will take more than us to try and find her." Andre commented. Socrates gobbled up his dinner with haste, having no care over the situation.

"Is there anything you care about apart from your own stomach!" May said, outraged by Socrates' selfishness. "Our little girl Claire is out there somewhere and she could get hurt."  
"I wouldn't worry about her if I were you. She was a waste of our time. Besides, she can return safely, unless she's incapable of barely taking care of herself with the power of the stars." Lisa said, taking no interest in the girl's safety while reading the dark tome.

"I don't want to go through the same shit we went through before Lisa. How dare you talk about Claire like she's none of your business! We care for her and we are all wishing for her safety. Accusing her of being a liability, look at yourself. You've caused more damage than you've helped us in this journey. And yet you don't see how generous you are staying with us."

"So is that how you really think Adrian? Your precious little Claire being the angel out of the whole situation while you viewed me as the person at fault? Please, you know this girl is the reason why we are stuck here for such a long time. Please explain what's beneficial to our journey than to be asked to wait nicely and patiently in the entrance of the hotel and then running off, making everyone else worry about her."

Adrian muttered things under his breath and gave up on arguing with Lisa. He cared for Claire, but knew that Lisa had a point pointing his head down at the floor playing with a rug that was positioned there with the side of his shoes and his hands in his pockets. Throughout the whole of the discussion (or arguments more like it), Lucy was left at the balcony and without anyone's notice, she was watching the rain and looking down from the height that she has be elevated and supported from. Her thoughts only lingered on futility and how futile it was to actually find any enjoyment out of this journey. The rain fell on her, but as she remained in her thoughts, she could think of nothing else and neglected the rain.

It was only until Adrian caught her with the corner of his eye that he rushed out and grabbed her. "What are you doing outside the rain, you'll get sick!" Lucy lifeless in motion closed her eyes, resting her head on his shoulders. "I don't care anymore…"

"What do you mean you don't care anymore?"

"Adrian… I've been holding on to this journey for so long. What does it really matter? If we can't even progress through this little obstacle then what can we do? Already we are acting like little children with these stupid arguments and this needing to avoid each other. I've had enough of it. It's time that I think…"  
"Think what? Lucy what do you think?" Adrian said with alarm. "It's time that I need to rest and stop feeling so sad in this journey. I'm going to rest."

"I just want to eat! Do you have to bite my ear off with all your complaining?" Socrates said, in anger towards May. "Can't I just eat for once instead of having you destroy me with your yelling?"  
The two constantly argued, Adrian appeared in the dining hall with his head down. Lisa picked up on this, realizing that Lucy wasn't with him. "She's taking another one of those stupid 'rests' again Adrian? She's been an awful pain to deal with these days."

Adrian clenched his fists in anger. "I'm warning you, one other word like that from you and I'll make you have an awful pain that you'll have to deal with and it will be a lot worse than you think." Adrian's eyes began to turn purple in colour; a dark aura surrounded him as pincers as if they were ready for attack.

Lisa quickly got her gun out of her pockets and readied her gun, holding it at his direction; a blue crystal began to shine around her neck. "So your true colours are beginning to shine? Well how do you feel knowing that I've got the powers of the moon on my side? Sit tight, cause I'll blow a hole right through you with my charged up Alchemy gun."

"Using your dead sister's powers? Seems unfair that you keep on milking the fact that you miss her, even though your ready to kill her spirit to kill me."

"You don't even know what you're talking about…" Lisa insisted, threatening to pull the trigger.

Socrates stood between them, holding his arms out gesturing to stop. "I'm sorry that I have to do this, but here it goes." He opened his palms, emitting two small balls of light towards them, hitting them direction and pushing them back against the walls causing them to faint.

"Socrates, why did you do that for!?" May asked.

"It's because they need to be separated. They can't be in the same room without fighting each other." Was Socrates' response.

"We've got a little girl that's disappeared. We've got to find her, quick!" Andre suggested, jumping and waiting to run outside the room.

"Wait, Andre. We have to separate them first… And I think it's futile to actually look for her now."

"What do you mean Socrates? She might be in danger!"

"But like Lisa said, it's a big city. We'll have no chance to find her. We are just going to have to wait until she returns…"  
"What about the police? They can find her!" Andre suggested.

"The police will make too much publicity. We want to be discreet in our travels."

The three separated the two and then took watch over them to supervise their activities. Mark mysteriously vanished, only to be in his room, lying asleep on the couch.

Claire ran out in the rain, slowing down and looking back on how far she was from the hotel. It was a tall structure, so she felt compelled to walk further away from it, as she could always see it from a distance.

A suspicious man wearing a beige trench coat was following behind her with sunglasses and short but spiked brown hair. The girl started to walk faster and hold onto her amulet in preparation of the suspicious man, as he could be possibly a stalker. The man followed quickly behind, his steps could be head closer and closer until finally he had caught her under some shelter at a dead end.  
He waved his hand across her face. "Oh no, you've already been infected by her curse." He waved his hand a second time across her face

"W-what are you doing to me?"

"Don't worry, I've got the powers to temporarily disable Mystic's dark curse of the moon. A curse that supposedly distorts your memory and… kills you slowly, but don't worry I'm here to help."

"Kills you slowly? The curse?"  
"Yes, symptoms of the curse include: distortion of perception and memory, split personalities, newfound powers, irregular aggression and depression and the most prominent being purple eyes."

"How do you know all this? Who are you?"

"I'm David Esterton and I'm a medical magician for the Magic Alliance. Sounds funny when you put medical and magician together one after the other right? But that's what I am."  
"The magic alliance… What on Earth is that?"

"It's a group dedicated to fighting against those that discriminate or cause harm against those with magical beings. I can't talk about much since you aren't actually a member. But I'm willing to help you out on your feet. Would you like to come to headquarters?"  
"No! I barely even know you! David Esterton… What kind of name is that?"

"Well I born David and my father's surname is Esterton, there's no questioning that. Anyways, I'm glad to have met you, I've got to go to headquarters, and they called me up in a meeting. Bye!"

Claire stood in the rain watching the man run towards a certain direction and this time… She started to follow him to the mysterious headquarters of the Magic Alliance. Maybe this time, she may be able to find an answer because of her curiousity. While back at the hotel, Mark got out of the balcony and watched the full moon shine bright.

"Where are you heading? Trying to find the girl? I wouldn't bother if I were you" Lisa said

"Maybe I'll try look for her on the side, but for now I've got important business to attend to." Mark said, flying to the sky merging with the stars and scenery.


	31. Chapter 31: Outside The Rain

**Outside The Rain**

Under the sheltered metal roofs of certain housing, Claire watched the stranger walking away in his large beige trench coat. The rain became more severe, clanking noises getting louder as the rain grew heavier during the time passed. She found it strange that from the intense rain that the man only _walked_. _Who goes to a meeting intentionally wet? _She thought, deciding to follow him because of her curiousity. Walking outside the cover, Claire already felt dragged by the rain, drenching her clothes by the weather. Strong winds resisted her from getting closer to the direction the man called _David Esterton_ was going. However Claire prevailed in her attempt, holding out her hand pulling his trench coat down to signal that she was right behind him.

He turned his back and raised his eyes only to find Claire combating the storms with much struggle and covered her with his trench coat.

"What are you doing? First you are all alone at some dead end street and now you aren't finding shelter from the storm?"  
"And you were going to just leave me at a dead end without taking care of someone who might have been lost?" Claire retaliated.

"Okay, no need to get angry. I was in a hurry." The man said putting his arms forward towards Claire's direction shaking them, fingers spread wide apart.

"It's okay… What are you doing out in the rain just walking anyways? It's pouring like crazy and you are here just walking?" The man laughed. "Wearing a trench coat and walking slowly makes me feel cool. As if I'm a solitary warrior or a free spirit. It's the ultimate detective gear that was in the Sherlock Holmes limited edition magazine subscriptions that I got by mail." The man then grabbed something out of his pocket and pulled it towards Claire's face. "It even came with its magnifying glass and barrette! Isn't that great?" the man said hysterically, very proud of his collection of items. Claire remained confused about the man's obscurity over collector's items, but let out a little smile as she thought of him as ridiculous.

"Hey are you making fun of me with that smile? I might be apart of the Magic Alliance, but I'm a huge fan of detective shows."

Claire laughed. "It's funny how magic disregards personality all together. It's strange, you waltz around as a doctor to those with magical prowess, yet you like collectors items from magazine subscriptions?" As she said this, it's as if the rain had never been there, though it was still raining hectically like before.

"The magic alliance… Where is it located? And the curse… What did you do to me before?"

The man shrugged his shoulders, "You tell me." He said, pulling out a mirror from his pockets from his so called "Detective's coat" waving it around Claire's face, particularly around the eyes.

"Stop it, keep it still! I'm trying to see." The man then kept the mirror still, Claire looked towards it, her purple eyes gone and with her natural green eyes replacing the purple.  
"The purple eyes… They are gone!"

The man nodded his head. "I put a temporary stop on the curse, so you are able to not feel the curse's symptoms or succumb to the curse's punishment. I'm not going to lie to you, but magical beings who have defied the Magic Empress Mystic have received and died from that curse."  
"Died? What happens to them?" Claire asked, her eyes widening and her face gasping for air from the shock. "They are overrun by the darkness, which is evident from the shattered darkness that is contained within purple eyes, the symptom. What the purple eye indicates is that your mentality is losing all signs of humanity and eventually you either experience death or having no conscious, only inside you a hatred of this world that's indicated by the final stage: red eyes, where they only become murdering criminals who kill whoever blocks their path. The curse also provides them powers of malice and destruction, making any effected by the curse natural killers." The man then paused and looked to Claire deeply. "I'm surprised, why would a young girl like you be a target of Mystic's curse? And how on Earth did you receive it? You can only get it by confronting Mystic herself and her casting it on you."

Claire thought about telling the truth, telling the man that she was the Fated Star's Child but she wanted to conceal it. She thought it was too confidential and it would attract more attention towards the man and the Magic Alliance.

"I don't know how I got it… But I'm scared. You're a doctor, isn't there a cure for this curse… I'm afraid a friend of mine has got the same thing."  
"No I'm sorry. There isn't a cure for it. We can only temporary stop it for those that suffer from it, but you should really live your life, because it's only soon that the temporary pause will stop and you will eventually experience the symptoms again."

Claire's tears started to fall on face, it was hard to tell with the rain, but the man saw easily how much she was upset.

"Don't worry, the people at the Magic Alliance are sure to find a cure for you, your friend and anyone else that's been effected. You can count on it."  
Claire started to look up and gained a little optimism. "Thank you… So much."

The man smiled looking towards two figures of shadow appearing to run towards them. "No worries. Anyways I think your friends are here… Claire."  
Claire looked towards the two figures, which appeared to be both a teenage girl and a large muscular man.

"It's Andre and May. They are here! But how did they find me?"  
"I'm off! Hopefully I can still make it for my meeting. I'm very late." The man said walking to the other direction. Claire instantly turned around, but found that the man had already disappeared. The road was narrow, with much space and no buildings to the side so he couldn't have ran or hid really quickly. She looked up and didn't see any figures flying… So where could he be?

"Hey, there you are! Why did you run off? Where were you planning to go?" Andre asked, panting.  
"I know! We were worried sick about you. Adrian and Lisa had another fight, Lucy isn't feeling well and Socrates is doing all he can to make everything all better!" May said, almost as if she was screaming her lungs out.

"Another fight? Is Adrian okay?" Claire said, in shock.

"We've kept them at different hotel rooms, but Socrates is using his magic so they don't fight again."

Claire looked down at the wet pavement. "I'm sorry… It's my fault isn't it? I just… I just wasn't using my head when I ran off. It was almost if my mind wasn't there at all."  
"Well it wasn't! Tomorrow is the hiking trail, we better be prepared for it and we need to get some rest. Some time to get us all worried!" May shouted.

"May, you are being a bit to harsh on her… She's really sorry." Andre said, looking towards Claire and giving her a weak smile.

"I know…" May said repentant of her accusation. "But it's been hard and I'm pretty sure Claire sees how difficult things have been on the group."  
May put both hands on the side of her hips and then later smiled. "Lets get out of the rain, it's making my hair all messy!"

Claire and Andre smiled and made their way to the hotel. Claire looking back, wanted to know who that mysterious man was, but she felt as if she was never to find out. But, she no longer fell depressed when she couldn't find an answer, because she knew that she would eventually find it soon.

Morning was so bright; it shone through the curtains of the hotel rooms. Lucy threw her pillows to the opposite wall of her bed, angered by the sun interrupting her dream of a pure romance. May shared the same room; already awake saw the catastrophic anger that was of Lucy whenever a good dream of hers was interrupted.

"Why does every nice dream that I have to always end abruptly by the stupid sun." Lucy shouted out, her head under a pillow drowned in a sea of blankets.

"So what, the sun is your arch nemesis. I don't suppose you were having those dreams as if you have just met your Mr Perfect like in those romantic comedy movies."

Lucy remained silent and then pulled herself out of her bed, rubbing her eyes and then looking towards May who was again brushing her teeth. "Am I that predictable?" Lucy said grinning towards May, they both falling into laughter. To make matters worse, May almost chocked on the toothpaste making an amusing sound that added more to their laughter. Those that lived on each side of their hotel room could hear the laughter, even through the thick walls that serve as soundproof boundaries.

They regrouped with the rest of the ensemble, making their way towards the Inca Trail and then, as if in a flash set their first steps on the Inca Trail.

Lisa couldn't hold in her excitement and jumped around as she set foot on the Inca Trail. "Isn't it exciting that we're actually stepping on the trail of the Ancient Incans? I mean to get a grasp of the atmosphere, it's amazing and surreal."

"It's just a foot path we are taking to a bunch of ruins, there's nothing exciting about that." May said with no interest.

"You wouldn't understand May. Just think of it as a clothes store for historians and those who wish to educate themselves about the past!" Lisa replied.

"Something's definitely changed her, I've never seen her this excited for anything before." Andre wondered.

"Don't worry Andre, it's the happy pills that I made her take after I cleared her memory." Socrates joked, Andre laughing after his comment. Mark had a few marks of cuts on his clothes Claire realized, but as she saw, Mark witnessed her and then wrapped himself around a dark black cape, which he was wearing in preparation of the hike. Lucy grabbed hold of Adrian as she had injured her ankle and had difficulty walking.

"We kept telling her not to wear her high heels but she just wouldn't listen!" Andre told the tour guide. The tour guide, laughed as he walked along with the group during the hike about their responses towards the hike. Whenever there was an uphill steep, the group would furiously get frustrated and noise our yells of misery that would be echoed all over the areas of the trail. Downhill was no better either, as May who held Socrates often tripped dropping Socrates on the ground. As much as Socrates wanted to voice out his pain, he remained silent occasionally scratching May with his paws to his irritation.

It took about 3 days to reach the Machu Picchu ruins, but already the group lost their enthusiasm, apart from Lisa who grew merry in delight as she wandered with her eyes looking at the beautiful scenery. It was picturesque, all the green merged with the misty clouds of white, she could already see other high picks shrouded in white mist adding a sense of mystery and enchantment to her eyes.

Through all the cloudy weather, Lisa's eyes truly shined the brightest out of everything around her, while the trail left everyone else disgruntled. And finally… They had reached their destination: Machu Picchu.


	32. Chapter 32: Where The Spirits Sleep

**Where The Spirits Sleep**

The group found themselves huffing and heaving for plenty of air after their great walk had finished. In the end, Lucy however felt no tiredness as unlike the group got Andre and Adrian to take turns carrying her along the way. The tour guide shook his head and closing his eyes when seeing the inactivity that Lucy managed to get away with.  
"You aren't going to get the real experience just waiting for people to carry you to Machu Picchu."  
The group all grunted and shared no sense of relation towards that comment, disregarding it with their non-agreeable noises and slurs. "The only sense of experience is getting a pain with your foot and only to get to a bunch of ruins." May argued, raising her fist as she spoke. She then collapsed, tumbling over Andre and then eventually Lucy creating a domino effect.

"Thanks for covering my fall. Who knows? I could have got myself hurt!" May said, laughing as she got up.

Lucy got up and dusted the dirt from her dress and decided to get off of Andre. "Is everyone okay?' she said, concerned of the state of those involved with the accident. Andre, the one who suffered most from the fall spat out the dirt that was caught on his mouth and then wiped his lips with his arm, stamping his feet like a child as he felt the weight and pain of both of the girls tripping him over. "I hate this trail! Ugh, that news report better be right." Andre yelled out.

"Ya' think you have to be that loud, you big dumbo!" May said, shouting louder towards the man, beating him in decibels.

"What news report?" asked the tour guide, interested in what the big muscle man had said previously.

Just as Andre was going to ask the question, May interrupted and like a moth to light, thought in her head as if it was her time to shine with the information. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth, only to be muted by a goat that had walked straight passed, right in front of her. The goat was white, with curved horns and noised as it crossed May, as if it was laughing at her attempt to steal the spotlight. The goat then walked away, casually as the people stared at it with obscure thoughts and undivided attention.

"Apparently according to the big knuckle head, the spoilt brat and the…" Mark looked over to Socrates, who still suffering from many sores kept quiet. Mark almost revealed the identity of the cat, but quickly recuperated from his stumble and shook his head. The tour guide confused, squinted his eyes and pursed his lips. "And the what?" he asked.

_You idiot! _Thought Lisa, putting her hand over her face, swaying her head. _The girl falls all the time dropping me on the sharp rocks… And I suffer in silence only for the boy to ruin everything… What did I do to deserve this? _Socrates thought, almost wanting to punch Mark in the face as he was resting in Adrian's care. Mark could see the tension of Lisa and Socrates by watching them glare at him. He ignored them and then thought of the things to say.

"The plush toy. We got that little plush cat from Japan and when you press its stomach, it talks like a normal person." Mark said, looking towards over Socrates giving him a sinister grin. Socrates tried his best to restrain himself, but his faced twitched in absolute rage over the boy's choice of words. _I'm so going to kill you! _He thought to himself, thinking about evil ways to return the favour.

"Oh really? Can I try? I've never heard of a talking cat before. You say Japan? They are so advanced with technology it's incredible in what they make." The tour guide then observed the cat with such interest, Mark's almost "sales pitch" piquing his interest much more. "I never realized until now, but the cat looks so realistic too! Is there anything the Japanese can't do?" the man said with much enthusiasm. "So where to I press it for it to talk?"

Mark took much pleasure from the comment, having a little giggle to himself thinking about his next move in what to say.

"Like I said, in the stomach. Adrian please, show the man our dear plush toy figure from Japan."

The tour guide then decided to stroke the furs of the cat, to Socrates dismay, was actually content, as he felt overjoyed that someone was stroking his furs. Then, all of a sudden the man then pressed on his belly once and then again. To the tour guide's dismay, the cat said not a word and Socrates was truly feeling the pressure from this situation.

"The cat isn't talking when I pressed his stomach, are you sure that this is the one you got from Japan."

Lisa shook her head while Lucy and Mark laughed from the banter that was going on.

"Try again, it should work this time…" Mark said, anticipating a response from the cat that easily suffered from its facial expression that it showed.

The tour guide was then going to attempt a third time, the cat dreading the thought of another attack on his belly and wanted to close his eyes but couldn't due to suspicion.

"That kid Mark stinks like crap. You should see him in the hotel room, stinking up the whole place." Socrates said, after the impact of the Tour guide's _blows_.

The tour guide grinned in delight, "So the saying is true, the third time is a charm. What else does it say?" the tour guide said, turning towards Mark and laughing at his expense.

Mark struggled to find the words to say. "Well, I think that's enough. Would you like to know where the switch is?" Mark said.

"No no no! I think that's enough Mark, lets just get onto the ruins right now. Please, I'm just waiting in anticipation for them" Lisa said, desperate to deter them away from discussing more about Socrates.

"Lisa, I think it's fine to actually show the man how our toy works and what kind of functions it has. So, there's the switch." Mark pointed out. The tour guide drawing closer towards the cat and observing it and nodding his head. Socrates, in a spur of hostility reached his claws attempting for the tour guide to stay back. The tour guide fell shocked at the cat's violent behaviour. "The cat is feisty!" the Tour guide said, laughing.

Mark drew closer to the cat and raised his index finger and swaying it from side to side. "Now, don't be a naughty cat!" Mark said, grinning evilly towards the cat that had tried to remain stationary after his attempted attack. Mark then nodded his head, content in his victory. The cat then sent a projectile of flowing liquid towards Mark's face. The group was shocked that Socrates had intentionally urinated on Mark; the boy disgusted began wiping his face and was boiled with anger. Still he tried to keep his cool, his face shaking and his arm constantly wiping it as if they were windscreen wipers of a car on a rainy day.

Everyone apart from Lisa managed to get a big laugh out of the incident; the tour guide in particular was in awe of this so-called _invention_. "So that was there the switch to turn it off and on was? The Japanese are good at inventing things with humour! I've got to get one of my own soon!" The tour guide told the group. _I can do a whole lot more than that… _Socrates thought to himself.

The group managed to make it to the ruins, passing by an interesting stone structure. Claire felt compelled to the rock, closing her eyes and seeing blue spectres of spirits flocking towards the rock.

"What is that rock for Mr Tour Guide?" she asked. The guide nodding his head, "Yeah we get a lot of people asking us what that rock is. Apparently this is a ritual stone called the Intihuatana Stone, which was made by the Incas, those that built Machu Picchu and lived here. This stone according to legend was used to perform religious rituals and according to historians and scientist, this is what they used to tell the time and has big astrological impacts as well."  
_Astrological impacts…? _Claire thought. _Maybe this stone is the way to get to Capricorn. _  
"The stone is sacred, but as legend says when you rub your head on the stone, you will either get an epiphany or a vision to the spirit world. But the effect won't work, unless you are a sensitive person."

The group looked towards others with disinterest of the stone and most of the group walked away observing the ruins while trying to find Capricorn. Lisa paid attention to every detail the tour guide spoke as she had an undying devotion and appreciation to history. "The ruins are fascinating, don't you get a sense of awe when you take tourists here all the time?"

"It is fascinating, it's part of my job but I feel privileged every single time I come here."

Lisa jumped up and clapped her fingers excitedly. "Then please show me your favourite spot then!" Lisa demanded with a force in her tone. The tour guide widened his eyes and smiled slowly, questioning the sanity of the woman. "Sure, follow me."

As the group passed the stone and into a new section of the ruins, Claire then approached the stone and remembering the legend rubbed her head against the stone, realizing that those spectres that she saw in her brief visions were indeed around. She then saw a cluster of the spectres banging their hands on the stone, demanding _to be released and into a different place. _Claire's vision was then obscured, as if the spirits were moving in slow motion. Spirits then approached the stone; she felt nothing as the spirits just went through her like a holographic image.

She then moved away from the stone, watching spirits from all over different places of the world approaching the stone, banging their hands on the stone. She could hear the sounds of their fists coming into contact with the stone like a constant rhythm or beat in her head. The beat then grew louder and louder, almost unbearable in Claire's ears. She walked away from the stone, hopefully getting away from the sound and commotion, covering her hands with her ears and closing her eyes. She then heard a little girl's voice, and felt someone pull on her clothes. "Claire, it's me… Can you see me Claire?" A brief silence occurred in Claire's mind. "Big sister?"

Claire then opened her eyes, looking back at the stone, the spirits still beating their hands on the stone, but she then could not hear the rhythm that she heard before. She looked around and saw little sisters' spirit, following it. "Kristen! Kristen. Where are you going?" She ran as fast as she could, desperate to be in contact with her again. May heard the screams that Claire made, kicking Andre in the leg. "We've forgot about Claire! She's apparently found her sister, but she's run off. We have to find her before she gets too lost!"

The spirit of her sister than stopped at one point, Claire not knowing where she was then realized that she was standing at a really narrow peak, with her sister. Claire's muscles in her face ached and she gaped her mouth in amazement to finally see her sister again.

"Kristen, tell me where you are… Please tell me that you are still alive. You don't know how much I've missed you. Adrian and I might have lost you that night years ago, but I'm not ready to lose you now! So please just tell me where you are."

Kristen nodded her head. "I missed you too Claire… I remember when the witch of the shadows took me to her lair, we passed a place called Au…" Kristen's spirit had faded before she could finish.

"NO!" Claire yelled, falling to her knees, "This can't be happening. WHERE is she?" Claire cried, swaying her head in belief. "This can't be happening."

Claire then felt a small nudge, as she opened her eyes her astral amulet was quivering rapidly and then she realized it was the same goat that had just previously passed them during their trail, this time with a bell attached with a collar and in that collar, a star patterned was encrusted on it, similar to the astral wand.

The goat's mouth then opened and then cuddled Claire on the shoulders. "Don't worry, the star's child, you will see your sister soon." The goat spoke, in a calm woman's voice.

"What? You can talk?'

"The same way as that cat you call Socrates can speak in human dialect. I alone prefer to speak the Goat's language, as it is simple. We simply baa our orders towards others."  
"But what are you? Who are you?"

"You should know. Your powers are getting stronger, and I am willing to give mine to you."

Claire closed her eyes and then started to ponder. _I should know… But I don't. What is this mysterious goat? Another toy from Japan… Actually scratch that, I don't even know where Socrates came from. Oh! That's right… It's Capricorn._

"Judging by your thought, I shall confirm my identity to you. I am Capricorn, the thoughtful one of the Astral Beasts. I, with my compassion, empathy and my drive to succeed shall hopefully be of use to you. May we form the pact?"

"The pact?"  
"Yes. As you capture our presence and forms in that wand, you actually are making a pact to use our powers and qualities to aid you on your journey. Surely you should have known that."

"I didn't… And now I know how I possessed these extraordinary powers. It's because I've been making pacts with powerful beasts like you… But you are different, how come you aren't attacking me with your powers?"

"Ah! That is a good question, my dear. I am no hostile beast nor am I looking for conflict to ruin these beautiful, sacred ruins of the past. Unless you are looking for a fight yourself."  
"No, no. I wish to not fight either… it's just a little strange."  
"I can tell from your eyes, Claire Nash. But you are special. Let us speak no more and hold your wand up and let us make the pact."

Claire stood up and then held the wand over the goat's head. "Oh Capricorn, the compassionate and caring beast of the Zodiac. Lend us your aid!"

When the pact was completed, Claire could hear Capricorn's voiced inside her head. "Now, this journey will not always be easy. You will face challenges that were never presented to you before, beasts of great power that are capable of defeating you in battle. Beasts of heart that will challenge your morals, but don't fret Claire Nash… Us beasts tapped inside this wand, because of your golden heart will support you in anyway we can."

Claire closed her eyes, nodding her head, a green glow surrounding her and her bodily filled with compassion was what she could feel.

Claire then opened her eyes, deactivating the wand into the amulet and spoke to it. "Capricorn, when you told me that I will see my sister again… Could you tell me where she is or if she's alive?"

"I'm afraid that is not for me to decide. I do not know the whereabouts of your sister, or state of her condition. However, I will say this. If you believe that you sister is alive, what's stopping you from seeing her again?"

"Your right Capricorn and I do believe that she's still alive."  
"Then what are we waiting for? Once we get a lead we will find her and save her."

Claire finally felt a bit of joy and regained her determination towards finding her sister. May behind her at a distance called to her. "Claire, I just saw that! You've found Capricorn and contained her in that rod haven't you?"

"Yes." Claire said shrugging her shoulders, acting coy and cute. "I did."  
"Geez Claire, you're getting good at this whole business. You found the beast yourself and you've contained it all by yourself without our help!"

She then felt proud of her accomplishments. Andre, suddenly appeared behind May panting. "We should get to the others! They are moving pretty quickly."  
"Oh no! Where are they? I hope I didn't make you lost! How are we going to get to them? These ruins are huge!" Claire panicked.

"Claire! Stop it. Don't worry; I've got something that will make getting to our problems into a happy, happy conclusion. Hold on tight!" May said, releasing massive wings from her back.

"What? Are you sure?" Claire asked. "Don't worry, I've got the perfect thing to say if they get too suspicious."

As the three flew, Andre and Claire holding onto May for flight, they saw the rest of the group back at the sacred stone. As they landed, May saw Lisa crossing her arms, while the tour guide gaped his eyes, his eyes widened yet again in awe of what he saw.  
May looked towards Lisa, with a cheeky grin. "What! They are from Japan remember?"  
The tour guide smiled, with nothing but the sight of those angelic wings on his mind. _Is there anything the Japanese couldn't do?_ He thought to himself. Claire observed around, but couldn't find the spirits, but she finally knew that the stone was no legend, but foretold a great vision of where the spirits slept.


	33. Chapter 33: Proof

**Proof**

The train back was amazing. We could see the scenery that was filled with green, so many forests surrounded the sacred peak and ruins and as the train sped it's way along to Cusco, Peru almost creating a wavy distortions to our eyes, I almost got dizzy just watching what was outside the windows! Previous to the us being on the train, Mark and Socrates could never stop fighting, even after we said our farewells with the tour guide, it's funny that we never got to know his name, despite him having a badge with him throughout the whole walk and tour. He must be pretty fit because he was hardly tired, although he did say that he had been doing these walks with tourists from around the world for a long time. As we got to the ruins, he particularly stayed close with Lisa, who was obviously obsessing over these bunch of ruins. But who can blame her? Machu Picchu is pretty remarkable once you actually get there. I think to Lisa and some of us on the journey found that the trail's difficulty is well-compensated for the beautiful landscape and views that you get once you reach your final destination. Although it's apparent that many of the others on this journey, particularly May, find that it's a blessing that we've finished the walk and are finally taking transport again. Like always, she's planning her next outfit with her newly bought outfits from the airport, she really did buy a lot. Lucy on the other hand has strangely been through a roller coaster of emotions, one day she's very upset, the next she's completely happy and back to her usual self. I tried asking her what's wrong, but she kept quite and did her best to smile through all the sadness that could be seen on her face. I see, that she wipes her tears every-time, but does so cautiously, hoping that no one catches sight of her and she does disguise her emotions pretty well because no one actually looks at her twice, since they think that everything's fine, or possibly they don't really care… I told Adrian about my concern, but he told me to leave it alone and not to jump into everyone's business. But she's a friend of mine, how can I not care about her? Throughout the whole train ride, she sat all by herself leaning her head on the window, her eyes watering.

As opposed to Lucy, Socrates, May, Andre and Mark had a great time on the train. It's the first time I've actually seen Mark smile and become friendly towards the group. I sat there, watching them thinking to myself: "What on Earth happened to him?" but generally these days he seems a lot more happier now that usual and it's become a good thing. I remember the time we faced Aries together and when he would doubt my abilities to cope throughout this journey… But now, he's been very protective of me and we've talked about what was to come on this journey. He reminds me of Adrian sometimes, especially when Mark fights with Socrates. It always makes me laugh when they do.

As for someone who hasn't changed much from the journey is Lisa. She wasn't this mad from the start. I remember she was nice to me at the start, but now she's been against me with everything. We've conflicted and argued a lot with each other and I'm getting a feeling that she hates me. It's probably because she thinks of me as someone that is attempting to replace her sister Diane from the journey that they had together before in the past and how both of us were given such a responsibility to save the world by collecting magic force from beasts created by Mystic. But I'm not trying to replace her; it's the fact that me and her sister Diane are in the same boat in terms of being given amulets that give such impressive power. I've noticed that nowadays, Lisa carries a blue crystal pendant with a moon and find her always reading a big black book every time we are resting or when we are waiting for something and even the book itself seems kind of evil to me. Mark's warned me to watch out, don't you find that strange?

May and Andre spend a lot of time together now. May's usually bossing him around to help her and follow her but as we waited in the airport for our next destination, I saw them two at a bookstore with May reading to him. Andre struggled in understanding some of the words that she read, but instead of getting fussy and angry over his mistakes, she corrected him and explained the meanings in a more simple way. I've never seen them interact this way before… It's as if she's teaching him literacy skills. May's always been the spoilt princess type in this journey, but she's helped me the most and has encouraged me plenty of times during our adventure, so maybe I shouldn't have doubted her generousity and care for everyone else. But you should have seen the look on Lisa's face when May spent some of the money on extra clothes for herself at the airport. It was so funny; I burst into laughter and couldn't stop until my stomach was hurting.

Nothing weird has happened during our trip to Australia, our next destination. Most of the time we spent just getting to the Peruvian airport was our group struggling to find a lead for where we were supposed to go next. We had plenty of options, but as we were at the airports, Capricorn spoke to me in my mind and told me that the next place we should search for an Astral Beast is Australia and apparently one of her friends (the other fellow beasts she refers as) loved the beach. As I spoke about Capricorn speaking to me about our indicated place to travel, Lisa doubted and wanted to get proof. Sadly she didn't get it, and the group as a whole decided that because we had no leads, Capricorn's message is something that we should follow, since it was our only lead. Lisa was very hostile with this decision as she wasn't really the leader of the group anymore and things now aren't ultimately decided by her, but us as a whole. But as we agreed to this, I could hear Lisa muttering _"the crazy bitch" _under her breath. I didn't mind this though, cause the only "crazy bitch" in this was just her. So we agreed to go to Australia, made our bookings and waited a long time for our flight (as usual). Great, I thought. Australia being a land surrounded by seas and is as big as a continent would at least have too many beaches to visit just finding an Astral Beast. But saving the world was never to be easy and it didn't have a contract that stated that "tedious, arduous or irritating" would be conditions that we didn't have to face along the way. For me, Capricorn has been the nicest and the only Astral beast that has communicated to me during the journey. She's really encouraged me to continue with anything I believed in and I take her advice to heart. But one thing from Peru remains only a mystery to me. A man in a beige trench coat calls himself David Esterton talked about the Magic Alliance and their intent on supporting and protecting magical beings around the world. Protect them from what though? And there must be more that they do; David Esterton must be pretty powerful to be able to temporarily stop the curse from Mystic… Maybe that was something that could have prevented Diane… Lisa's sister from her demise…

But I shouldn't really delve into the unknown. Not now, since I have objectives to fulfil. So here I am, on a plane to Australia holding on to my favourite hero that's always tried to make things better for me. Right now, I'm cuddling him as I'm writing this in a journal that he had apparently kept in his pockets all this time. He told me I could use it for a diary and now I think it's the right time to stop writing and see what holds for us in Australia.

**Love, Claire**

The girl who's trying to play the heroine in this dark, cold world that needs a young heroine to save the day… Cuddling beside my hero slash guardian, **Adrian.**


	34. Chapter 34: Drowned By The Messenger

**Drowned By The Messenger**

It was a dark, cold night where Claire with Socrates, Adrian, Lisa and Lucy found themselves at a school in Australia combating against sphere's made of water chasing them and casting powerful magic that consisted of the water element. The spheres were about the size of an average watermelon but as they came into contact with student lockers, it was apparent that they were heavy in build as well. Two were chasing Claire and Lucy in the corridors as they were basically running for their lives. Socrates dealt with those in one wing of the school, while Adrian and Lisa dealt with separate wings and levels of the school as these magical spherical creatures appeared in masses. Andre and Mark ventured around the areas of the city and the local beaches of Melbourne searching for clues of where the next Astral Beast was. But after their orders, Andre only spent a brief 10 minutes around the city and returned to their hotel, working out at the gym, while Mark was nowhere to be found in the night. May herself stayed at the hotel rooms, supposing to be at their call, whenever they needed her but she disconnected the hotel phone and watched the high definition TV with lifestyle shows that revolved around issues about fashion and _how to become a supermodel and their dramas._

"Why are we at a school running for our lives from stupid little balls of water!" Lucy yelled out, never imagining the thought of this coming to reality. "I can't take this anymore, we have to confront them Lucy we can't run away all the time!" Claire stopped facing the spheres, with her wand in attacking position. But as they made their way towards her, the spheres looked much more bigger that before. One shot out fast jets of water, while the other cast water walls that were heading at both Lucy's and Claire's direction. The water walls rose up high and fast, one by one and they were getting closer and closer to the girls' direction. Claire decided that it wasn't the best time to confront them and caught up to Lucy in her pursuit of escaping the battle. "Think that running isn't the best option now?" Lucy said, with snark knowing that she was right.

"It looks like this corridor is going to end soon and their water walls are getting closer, we are going to have to find another solution." Claire yelled, realizing that there were stairs at the end of the corridor. "We'll go to the next level and plan our attack from up there." Claire suggested.

"Anything's fine with me as long as we don't have to keep running away from balls that shoot water at us all the time!" Lucy agreed, in a very comical tone.

As they got up the stairs, they felt relieved, as it seemed that they have lost the water spheres. Then BANG, an upheaval of a large water penetrated through the second level's floors from under. "Looks like your wish is far from reality Lucy…" Claire said with deep regret, she was disappointed from another round of running in the corridors to evade the assaults of water that was directed at them.  
It was now two by two, that the bursts of water from below penetrated through the marbled floors of the school, Lucy screaming hysterically in fear of the water getting closer and closer.  
"I just bought this dress from the designer shop at the city! And now it's getting all wet." Lucy wore an elegant pink silk dress that proved to be expensive attire buying it for $1200 at a shop in the fashion districts of Melbourne. It was short cut and paired with her high-heeled boots that were a leather navy blue, she found her legs uncontrollably shivering in the cold. Her legs dripping from the unbelievably cold water that was struck at her by the sphere's got her incredibly mad and gave Claire an irritating headache due to Lucy's constant complaints. As they ran the opposite direction compared to last time on the first level of the school in the corridors, Claire could see Lisa finishing off water sphere's with her gun, aiming bright lights that eventually dispersed the spheres up with one bullet.

"DUCK!" Lisa yelled out to Claire and Lucy, Claire directly following her orders while Lucy finding incredibly hard to "duck" for cover. "But I'm wearing this leather high-heeled boots!" she cried out. "Just get down for cover!" Lisa yelled back, as her plan was wearing thin from Lucy's reluctance. Lucy, humourously tumbled down on the floor accidentally rather than purposely getting down low as Lisa requested. Lisa witnessed this, shrugging her shoulders. "Good enough." She said to herself. As the water spheres drew closer, Lisa drew out 2 bigger guns, putting her regular alchemy gun inside her pocket. She reloaded them with bullets, massive in size and stretched her neck, twisting in all directions. After her warm up, she aimed the guns towards the spheres. "Hasta la vista… Baby!" she said, before firing her shots, creating mini explosions as the bullets were in contact with the spheres. The spheres were destroyed to little drops of water, which eventually soaked both Claire and Lucy's clothes. "You got my clothes wet! Great one Lisa." Lucy said in sarcasm, disappointed that her pink silk dress was now completely wet.

:"You really only wanted us to duck just to say that one line right?" Claire said, with joking around with Lisa's intent.

"Well every moment has to have a great scene in it." Lisa said coolly, blowing the smoke off the top, pouting her lips and shaking her hair with her fingers as if she was modelling her victory. "Girls!" Lisa announced to grab their attention. "The way to defeat this water spheres is to strike an object inside their core. Beyond their watery bodies is a core that once struck defunct their systems and dispels their water… Eventually they just turn into the dead cores that they truly are." The girls nodded their head, preparing for the next possible upcoming attack. Lucy readied out her fan, while Claire kept her wand in attacking mode constantly.  
"Let's go girls."  
Adrian from the top floor ran to the second floor, wondering what all the commotion was all about. "Girls! What's going on? I just heard explosions occurring here."

"Don't worry Adrian, us girls can take care of ourselves." Lisa replied. Lucy smiling, a glint of her teeth can be seen while Claire was jumping and continuing along ready for attack.

Soon, a dozen water spheres began appearing from the other side of the corridors. "Everyone ready? Charlie?" Lisa faced Adrian. "Angels?" she then faced the two girls beside her. The 3 nodded in reply. "Then lets go… Full Throttle", the four posing as if it was a movie sequence. Lisa firing from her gun rapidly, Lucy throwing her fan across (unbelievably not ruined after in contact with Lisa's bullets or Claire and Adrian's magic) and Claire and Adrian summoning beams directed at the water spheres. Explosions of the spheres then created the corridor to be drenched with water, water levels going at ankle height for a few brief seconds until the water was eventually lead down due to the stairs.

Lisa than giving high fives to both the girls but was still reluctant to give one towards Adrian. Adrian smiled shaking his head and then gave her a high five. Lisa too, was joyed and then concluded the celebration by giving him a hug.

"You're clothes are wet." She said, laughing.

"And yet you seem to intent to keep yourself bone dry" he said in return, in amusement

The four regrouped with Socrates, who apparently was calling for help when he was surrounded by the water spheres. As the four cleared them off, Socrates hugged them with deep affection; it was a sign of him being extremely happy with gratitude.

"These sphere's keep coming, it doesn't look like we can get rid of all of them cause there are too much!" Lucy complained, Claire, Lisa and Adrian rolling their eyes as she did this.

"I believe that there is a key with these spheres. There must be a core, and I believe the only place that we haven't looked is the school hall." Socrates told.

"So shall we take a look then?" Adrian suggested, the 4 nodding their head in agreement. As they opened the two wide wooden doors of the school hall, they were struck with fear of the massive water sphere that nearly took up all the space, but despite the other miniature water spheres, this one appeared to only remain stationary, however also had pathways stuck to the wall that held it up. The smaller spheres were produced and released from those paths.

"How are we going to get rid of THAT thing Lisa? That body of water is so large that it doesn't look like any of our magic can penetrate through the thing!" Claire said in shock.

"Oh no incoming!" Lucy alerted, as plenty of water sphere were striking towards them, but unlike before, they approached them with full impact as if they were bombs. The group split up, as the water spheres were apparent on going on direction.

"What are we going to do?" Lucy yelled out, her yell echoing loudly in the hall and even creating a bit of ripples on the huge sphere.

"Her yells can even penetrate water…" Socrates muttered.

The group couldn't find a solution to the problem. Lucy's fan eventually got stuck inside the large sphere, rendering her attacks useless. Adrian, Socrates and Claire's attempts seemed pretty useless into aiming for the core as well and surprisingly Lisa's effective bullets with the small water spheres were ineffective against the giant sphere. Lisa, outraged with this accidentally shot off-target, hitting the pathways and even destroying it, causing the large sphere to lean on one side.

And then there it was, the answer to defeating the large sphere. It occurred to Lisa that if they were to destroy all the paths, then the sphere will drop on the floor, making way for targeting the core and destroying the beast.

"Everyone! We have to destroy those pathways that are attached to the wall in order to defeat it! Trust me."

The group agreed and then aimed their magic and attacks at the pathways. As all the paths were destroyed, Lisa's theory proved correct as the sphere then dropped to the school hall's floor and was defeated. Though because of the quantity of the water, high water levels in the hall were reached and the water eventually being released from the two doors at the entrance of the hall being opened. Everyone tried to hold onto something and they struggled in their pursuit to resist the flow of the water, however they managed and at the end they looked around the school high seeing such ruin that was made from the flood of water.

The large core in the end appeared to be a canoe that was split in half after it was dropped to the floor. However a large silhouette of the canoe remained floating where it was from the start. Small strands of the silhouette flew towards Claire, eventually going inside her from the chest, Claire fell unconscious and eventually she developed large and dark bat-like wings.  
Lucy, seeing her fan on the floor on the far side of the hall ran towards it and grabbed it in her hands. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together, with the fan opened in front of her. With this, the dark strands let go of Claire and then went towards Lucy's direction, her taking in the darkness instead of Claire. "Why does the shadows go to Claire now?" she thought, when the ritual finished.

Claire fell to the floor, Adrian catching her and as she woke her eyes were now the same as in the airplane. They were purple with shattered darkness travelling around. Claire blinked, and then they were gone. Adrian let out side smile.

The group exited the hall, knowing that there was nothing they could to do repair the damage caused. The first thing they realized is that as the cool winds were rushing in the night, they were extremely cold and in need of heat badly. Lucy, as usual found time to complain about this issue, but unlike most times, everyone else found room to complain as well. Their yells almost sounded like wolves to strangers who passed by the school after midnight. In the end the group persisted and stayed at the school waiting till morning to move, the headmaster shocked to see what he saw at is school.

"You call this getting rid of the bandits?" he shouted towards them. "You almost destroyed the hall!" The headmaster looked around the corridors and saw how wet inside the student lockers and classrooms were. In the end, he called off the school day due to "Destruction" and the many students who go there rejoiced in their sudden day off that they heard from phone calls. Others who received the news when they reached the school were disgusted that the news wasn't mentioned earlier and how they went all the way to school just to hear _that_.

"Can you explain the meaning of this?" the headmaster said, yelling his lungs out.

"Lets just say, we gave those bandits a hard time. And they wont be coming back to the school… Ever." Adrian said with charm and smiling cheekily.

As they finished their round, apparently clearing up the "Night Bandits" for the school, everyone but Claire made their way back to the hotel rooms. Claire on the other hand requested that she needed some time alone, passing a beach. Then, her amulet reacted and there at the beach she saw a woman standing in the sands fully clothed. The woman looked back to Claire, with a sad face and then dropped to the water, her body floating away… and eventually disappearing.


End file.
